Lady Anne Clifford.
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BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE
SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND
THE GIFT OF
HENRY W. SAGE
1691
Cornell University Library
DA 378.P39W72 1922
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Cornell University
Library
The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027999014
LADY ANNE OLIFFOED
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LADY ANNE CLIFFORD
COUNTESS OF
DORSET. PEMBROKE & MONTGOMERY.
1590-1676.
HER LIFE, LETTERS AND WORK
EXTRACTED FROM ALL THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS
AVAILABLE, MANY OF WHICH ARE HERE
PRINTED FOR THE FIRST TIME
BY
DR. GEORGE C. WILLIAMSON.
KENDAL
TITUS WILSON AND SON
1922
TO
SIR HENRY JAMES TUFTON
BARONET
Baton Ibotbfielb
OF HOTHFIELD IN THE COUNTY
OF KENT
LORD LIEUTENANT AND GUSTOS ROTULORUM
FOR THE COUNTY OF WESTMORELAND
AND OWNER OF
LADY ANNE'S CASTLES
OF
APPLEBY, BROUGHAM, BROUGH,
PENDRAGON AND SKIPTON,
THIS BOOK
WHICH COULD NOT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN
WITHOUT HIS GENEROUS ASSISTANCE
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY HIS SINCERE AND GRATEFUL FRIEND
THE AUTHOR.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Dedication
Page
iv.
List of Illustrations . .
vii.
Preface
. .
xvii.
Chapter I.
Preliminary
I
II.
The Clifford Family . .
5
III.
The father and mother of Lady Anne Clifford
25
IV.
The two Uttle boys (Francis and Robert Clifford)
43
V.
The two last Earls of Cumberland . .
47
VI.
The early days of Lady Anne CUfford
56
VII.
Lady Anne Clifford's first marriage and life at Knole
79
VIII.
Lady Anne's letters to her mother . .
145
IX.
Widowhood
156
X.
Lady Anne Clifford's second marriage and Ufe at
Wilton
160
XI.
Lady Anne succeeds to her estates . .
186
XII.
Another bundle of letters
209
XIII.
Lady Anne's guests at her northern castles
226
XIV.
Her record of public events . .
255
XV.
The last few months of Lady Anne's life . .
265
XVI.
The Walpole letter
285
XVII.
The character and habits of Lady Anne . .
303
XVIII.
The mysterious dedication . .
329
XIX.
The Great Picture at Appleby Castle
334
XX.
Portraits of Lady Anne Clifford
346
XXI.
The Great Diary
357
XXII.
The almshouses at Appleby and Beamsley
368
XXIII.
The Countess's pillar . .
386
XXIV.
The Sheriffwick
393
XXV.
The Tombs
404
VI.
Table of Contents.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
Skipton Castle . .
Lady Anne's five great castles — Appleby, Brough,
Brougham, Pendragon and Barden Tower
The De CUfford barony
Sackville College
Cliffords Inn . .
APPENDIX.
Pedigree of Lady Anne's family and Descendants
Pedigree of the Tufton family. Earls of Thanet, showing the descent
of the Earldom
Pedigree showing the descent of the various Clifford baronies.
Pedigree showing the descent of the original Clifford barony to the
present day ' . .
Documents : —
I. Summary of the will of George, Earl of Cumberland, 19 October,
1605
II. Summary of the will of Margaret, Countess of Cumberland
dated April 27th, 1616
III. Summary of the will of the Earl of Dorset, 26 March, 1624
IV. Summary of the will of the Earl of Pembroke, i May, 1649
V. Summary of the will of Lady Anne Clifford . .
VI. The King's award under the Great Seal
VII. A catalogue of the household and family of the Earl of Dorset
at Knole, 1613 — 1624
VIII. List of births, marriages and deaths of Lady Anne's descend
ants, recorded by her in her Diary
IX. List of the members for Appleby, 1640 — 1702
X. The Proceedings in the House of Peers in 1627 relative to Lady
Anne's claim to the barony of Clifford or De Clifford
XI. Mrs. Southwell's case as to the barony of De CUfford . .
XII. A letter from Mrs. Southwell, 25 October, 1758
XIII. The inscriptions in full upon the Great Picture
XIV. The odd pages that have been discovered of Lady Anne's
account book of 1673
XV. The dedication in full by Anthony Stafford of his Niobe, Part
II, 161 1, as addressed to Lady Anne
XVI. A note concerning the armour of George, earl of Cumberland
preserved at Appleby Castle
Bibliography . .
Memoranda of occurences during printing
Index
415
423
441
449
454
280
284
441
444
456
457
460
462
465
473
477
479
482
483
484
486
489
507
516
517
521
527
529
vu.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Frontispiece. — The Great Picture at Appleby Castle.
From a photograph by Gray from the original.
Plate I. To face page 6.
Shap Abbey : the old burial place of the Veteripont family.
From a photograph kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. Curwen.
Clifford Castle.
From a photograph kindly taken for me by Mrs. Leigh Spencer.
Portrait of Eleanor Brandon, Countess of Cumberland.
From a photograph, by permission of Dr. Cust and the Walpole Society.
Original belongs to Captain Bruce Vernon Wentworth.
Plate 2. .^ To face page 7.
A Pedigree from one of the three great volumes, giving the descendants
of Lady Anne.
Plate 3. . . . . To face page 26.
Holograph Letter from Lord Cumberland to his wife, 6 February, 1589,
concerning the birth of Lady Anne, from the Hothfield papers at
Appleby Castle.
Portrait of George, Earl of Cumberland, on a unique Silver Plaque
in the Coin Room of the British Museum.
From an engraving made from the plaque, by permission of the authorities
of the Museum.
Holograph Letter from Eleanor, Countess of Cumberland to her husband,
14th February, 1540.
From the original in the Hothfield papers at Appleby Castle.
Lady Anne's Silver Medal.
From the very fare original.
Plate 4. . . . . . . • . . • . ■ • • To face page 27.
Portrait of Margaret, Countess of Cumberland. Lady Anne's
mother, at the age of twenty-five, by an unknown painter.
From a photograph by Emery Walker, from the original in the National
Portrait Gallery.
Plate 5. To face page 32.
Facsimile of Lord Cumberland's last penitent letter to his wife,
written shortly before his death.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the original in the Hothfield
papers at Appleby Castle.
viii. List of Illustrations.
Plate 6. To face page 36.
Portrait of Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, Lady Anne's mother,
by an unknown artist.
From a photograph by Gray, from the original, hanging at Hothfield Place.
Plate 7. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. To face page 76 .
Holograph Letter from Lady Shrewsbury to Margaret, Countess of
Cumberland, concerning the death of Lady Arabella Stuart, 8th Dec-
ember, 1 615.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the original in the Hothfield
MSS. at Appleby Castle.
Tomb of Edmund Spenser in Westminster Abbey, erected by Lady Anne
in 1620, rebuilt in 1778.
Part of a photograph by Mansell.
Plate 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 77
Holograph Letter from Lady Anne at the age of fifteen, to her mother,
Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, August, 1605.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the original in the Hothfield MSS.
at Appleby Castle.
Two Views of Skipton Castle.
From two early water-colours.
Plate 9 To face page 80.
Portrait of Richard Sackville, Third Earl of Dorset (Lady Anne's
first husband), after an engraving by Simon de Pass.
From a photograph by Leonardson from the original in the Cracherode
Collection at the British Museum.
Holograph Letter from Lord Dorset to his wife, with reference to her
estates, October 6th, 1617.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the original in the Hothfield MSS.
at Appleby Castle.
Plate 10 To face page 81.
Representation of Knole House, from an engraving by Kip.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the original, lent by Mr. C.
Phillips, of Sevenoaks.
Plate II .. .. .. .. ,. .. .. To face page 122.
Title-Page and Final Song from the very rare book " Ayres that were
sung and played at Brougham Castle," 1618.
From photographs by Leonardson from the original in the British Museum.
List of Illustrations. ix.
Plate 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 123.
Pedigree of the Family of St. John of Bletso. In MS. and colour,
found amongst the documents at Skip ton Castle, and presented to
Lady Anne by her cousin Lady Barrington, in 1629.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the original in the Hothfield MSS.
then at Skipton Castle, now at Appleby Castle,
Plate 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 150.
Holograph Letter from Lady Anne to her mother, concerning her
miniature and returning certain keys, i8th June, 161 5.
Holograph Letter from Lady Anne to her mother, sending her a New
Year's gift, 1615.
Letter signed by Lord Dorset, the last he wrote to his wife, dated 26th
March, 1624, the very day of his death.
All three from photographs by Leonardson from the originals in the
Hothfield MSS. at Appleby Castle.
Plate 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 151.
Lady Anne's Holograph Letter to her uncle, the Earl of Bedford,
14th June, 1638.
From a photograph by Macbeth, from the original in the MS. Room of
the British Museum.
Holograph Letter from Lady Anne to her cousin, Sir John Lowther,
from Baynard's Castle, October 14th, 1646.
From the original in the Lowther MSS., by kind permission of the Earl
of Lonsdale.
Plate 15 . . . . To face page 164.
View of Wilton House, Salisbury, by permission of the Earl of Pembroke
and Montgomery.
From a photograph by Jukes.
View of Baynard's Castle, circa 1649.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the engraving by Wise in the
Crace Collection in the British Museum.
Portrait of Philip Herbert, fourth Earl of Pembroke, and first Earl of
Montgomery, Lady Anne's second husband.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the engraving by R. van Voerst,
after Van Dyck, from the original in the Cracherode Collection in the
British Museum.
X. List of Illustrations.
Plate 16 To face page 165.
Views of Buckhurst and Bollbroke, after etchings by Letitia Bume,
London, 1810.
From photographs by Leonardson from the originals in the British Museum.
Three Portraits of Lady Catherine Cavendish, afterwards Countess
of Thanet,
From portraits at Welbeck Abbey, by kind permission of the Duke of
Portland.
Plate 17. To face page 190.
Holograph Letter from Lady Anne to her cousin Sir John Lowther,
written from Baynard's CastJe, 4th April, 1644.
A Similar Letter, from the same place, dated 20th of September, 1645.
Both from the originals in the Lowther MSS. at Lowther Castle, by kind
permission of the Earl of Lonsdale.
Plate 18. To face page 191.
Lady Anne's copy of the authorisation and appointment as Sheriff in her
stead of Sir Richard Sandford, while she was unable to exercise the
dignity herself. Dated the 7th of August, 1647, with endorsements
in her own handwriting.
Lady Anne's Holograph Letter to Mr. Christopher Marsh, from Apple-
by, 4th January, 1649, with her endorsement thereon.
From the originals in the Lowther documents, by kind permission of the
Earl of Lonsdale.
All the photographs of the Lowther documents for this book have been
made by the Oxford University Press.
Plate 19. . . . . . ■ . . . . ■ ■ . . To face page 202.
Lady Anne's Power of Attorney, executed by herself and sealed, and
witnessed also by Gabetis, Edge and Sedgwick. Dated October, 1652.
From a photograph by the Oxford Universiry Press, from the original in
the Hothfield MSS., then at Skipton, now at Appleby Castle.
Autograph Letter from Lady Anne to Mr. Christopher Marsh, partly in
George Sedgwick's writing, and partly in that of Lady Anne. Nov-
ember 3rd, 1653.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the original in the Hothfield
MSS. at Appleby Castle,
Plate 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 203.
Various Views of Collin Field, near Kendal, the residence of George
Sedgwick, Lady Anne's secretary, showing the staircase, the entrance
porch, the carved cupboard, and the lock presented to him by Lady
Anne.
All from photographs kindly taken for me by Mrs. Paul Mason.
List of Illustrations. xi.
Plate 21. To face page 214.
Lady Anne's Holograph Letter to the Countess of Kent, loth of January,
1649. With the receipt in the handwriting of Edge endorsed upon it.
From a photograph by Macbeth, from the original in the MS. Room of the
British Miiseum.
Holograph Letter from Lady Anne to Mr. Christopher Marsh, 25th of
December, 1649.
Both from photographs by Leonardson from the originals in the Hoth-
field MSS. at Appleby Castle.
Plate 22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 215.
Holograph Letter from Lady Anne to Mr. Christopher Marsh. April
19th, 1649.
A Similar Letter from Lady Anne to the same person, 25th of March, 1650.
Both from photographs by Leonardson, from the originals in the Hothfield
MSS. at Appleby Castle.
Plate 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 294.
Autograph Letter from Lady Anne to Lord Arlington concerning Sir
Joseph Williamson, February 6th, 1668.
Part of a Letter to Lady Thanet, covering a copy of Lady Anne's letter
to Lord Arlington, January, 1668.
Plate 24. To face page 295.
Autograph Letter from Lady Anne to Sir George Fletcher, concerning
the election in Appleby. January 17th, 1668
Autograph Letter from Lady Anne to Sir Joseph WiUiamson, January
i6th, 1667.
The foregoing four illustrations are from photographs by Monger from the
originals in the Public Record Office, by permission of the authorities.
Plate 25. To face page 306.
The Great Lock at Rose Castle, Carlisle, dated 1673, and given to the
Bishop of Carlisle by Lady Anne.
From a photograph by Mr. Linnaeus E. Hope, F.L.S.
Two Views of Ninekirks Church, near Brougham Castle, Exterior and
Interior.
The first from a photograph by Mrs. Paul Mason, the second from a
photograph by Mr. W. L. Fletcher of Workington,
The Porch of Mallerstang Church, showing the tablet over the door,
prepared by Lady Anne.
From a photograph kindly taken by Mrs. Paul Masson.
xii. List of Illustrations.
Plate 26. To face page 307.
Thanet House, Aldersgate Street, afterwards known as Shaftesbury
House.
Two Views, one from a pencil drawing, and the other from an engraving,
when the house was used as a lying-in hospital.
Thanet House, Great Russell Street, the residence of the Earl of
Thanet, after the house in Aldersgate Streeet had been given up.
All three from -photographs by Leonardson. From the originals in the
Grace Collection in the British Museum.
Plate 27. To face page 332.
First Pages of the Dedication to Lady Anne of Anthony Stafford's
Niobe, Part II. , 1611. From the damaged copy in the Bodleian Library.
From photographs by the Oxford University Press.
Complete Pages of the same book, from the unique copy of the work at
one time in the Huth Library.
The volume is now in the Harmsworth Collection.
From photographs by Gray, taken at Messrs. Sotheby's sale rooms, by
permission of Mr. Huth.
Plate 28. To face page 333.
Views of Snape Castle and Street House, alluded to in Lady Anne's
progresses.
The former from a photograph by the Rev. J. Redmayne of Well, the latter
from a photograph by C. J. Hare, of Aiskew.
Plate 29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 346.
A Miniature Portrait of Lady Anne Clifford when a child, by David des
Granges, belonging to Lord de Clifford, and now in the care of Mrs.
Arthur Stock.
Miniature, representing Lady Anne as Countess of Dorset, by an unknown
artist, probably Oliver, belonging to Lord de Clifford, and now in the
care of Mrs. Arthur Stock.
Pearl Necklace and Pearl earrings, which originally belonged to Lady
Anne, now the property of Lord de CUfford, and in the care of Mrs.
Arthur Stock.
From photographs by Gray, taken by their special permission.
Oil Painting, representing Lady Anne when a child.
From a photograph by W. E. Gray, from the original at Appleby Castle.
List of Illustrations. xiii.
Plate 30. To face page 347.
Portrait of Lady Anne as Countess of Pembroke, by Van Dyck, being a
part of the large family group.
Portrait of Lady Anne as Countess of Pembroke, by Dobson.
Silver Medal, representing William, first Earl of Pembroke, bequeathed
to her grandson by Lady Anne, by her will, dated May ist, 1674.
All from photographs by Jukes from the originals at Wilton House,
Salisbury, by permission of the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery.
Plate 31. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 350.
Portrait of Lady Anne in old age, by an unknown artist.
From a photograph by Emery Walker of the original work at the National
Portrait Gallery.
Plate 32. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 352.
Portrait of Lady Anne in old age, from the original portrait at Appleby
Castle.
The latest portrait of Lady Anne, done in extreme old age, from the
fine original at Hothfield Place, once at Skipton Castle, by an unknown
artist.
Both photographs by W. E. Gray.
Plate 33. .. .. .. .. To face page 353
Portrait of Lady Anne, from the original oil painting at Appleby Castle,
representing her as Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery. Called
on the picture " Countess of Dorset and Pembroke."
Photographed by W. E. Gray.
Portrait declared to represent Lady Anne, by an unknown painter,
hanging at Woburn Abbey, by special permission of the Duke of
Bedford.
Plate 34. To face page 358.
Frontispiece to the first volume of the book of records, showing the
Veteripont Pedigree and coat of arms.
From photographs by Leonardson, from the original volume then at Hoth-
field Place, now at Skipton Castie.
Plate 35. To face page 359.
Frontispiece to the second volume of the book of records, showing the
pedigree and arms of the ancestors of Lady Anne.
From a photograph by Leonardson, from the original then at Hothfield
Place, now at Skipton Castle.
xiv. List of Illustrations.
Plate 36. To face page 360.
A Page from the Volume of the great record, containing information
concernimg Lady Anne. The line below the rule is in her own hand-
writing.
From a photograph by Leonardson from the original at Appleby Castle.
Plate 37. .... To face page 361.
Two Pages from one of the great books of records, one giving an account
of Lady Anne during her widowhood, and the other showing one of
the documents copied into the great book, to wit, a chsirter of Eliza-
beth, with a drawing of the Great Seal.
From photographs by Leonardson, from the originals at Appleby Castle.
Plate 38. To face page 372.
An Illustration of the exterior of Beamsley Hospital, founded by
Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, Lady Anne's mother.
From a photograph by Smith.
An Illustration of the interior Courtyard of the Hospital of St.
Anne at Appleby, founded by Lady Anne
From a photograph by Gray.
An Illustration of the Interior of the chapel of the Hospital of St.
Anne at Appleby.
From a photograph by Gray.
The Great Seal of the Hospital of St. Anne at Appleby.
From a photograph by Leonardson, by kind permission of the Governors.
Plate 39. To face page 391.
The Countess's Pillar, near to Brougham Castle.
From a photograph by W. E. Gray.
Full length Oil Portrait of Margaret, Lady Cumberland, Lady Anne's
mother, by an unknown painter.
From a photograph by Gray of the original portrait hanging at Hothfield
Place.
Plate 40. . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 404.
View of the tomb of Henry, first Earl of Cumberland, and of Margaret
Percy his wife, in Skipton Church.
From a photograph by Smith.
MS. giving the inscriptions on the tomb of Margaret, Countess of Cum-
berland.
From a photograph by the Oxford University Press, from the original in
the Hothfield MSS. at Appleby Castle.
View of Skipton Castle.
List of Illustrations. xv.
Plate 41. To face page 405.
Tomb of Francis, Lord Clifford, Lady Anne's brother, in Skipton
Church, with representation of the brasses of arms and inscription
upon it.
From a photograph by Smith.
A Tapestry-covered Chair at Skipton Castle, bearing upon it the arms
of Anne Dacre, Countess of Cumberland, quartering Veteripont and
ClifiEord and impaling Dacre.
From a photograph hy Smith.
Plate 42. To face page 408
Photograph of the Tomb of George, Earl of Cumberland, in Skipton
Church.
From a photograph by Smith.
Representation of the Tomb of Lady Cumberland in Appleby Church.
From a photograph by Hatton of Appleby.
Plate 43. . . .... . . . . . . . . To face page 409.
Letter from Lady Anne Clifford to her Father, written when a
girl of 8 years old, on January 31st, 1598, the day succeeding her own
birthday.
Plate 44. . . To face page 416.
Two Views of the Leadwork of 1686, erected at Skipton Castle by Lady
Anne.
The Entrance to Skipton Castle.
A View of the Kitchen in the ancient part of Skipton Castle.
The Old Lead Tank in the garden at Skipton Castle, erected by Lady
Anne, and having upon it the arms of Clifford and Veteripoint.
All from photographs by Smith of Skipton
Plate 45. To face page 417
The two Carved Panels from the door at Skipton Castle, representing :
(i) The Arms of CUfford,
(2) The Arms of England in the time of Henry VII.
The Entrance to the Conduit Court at Skipton Castle.
Two Views of the Carved Stones with Armorial Bearings in the Great
Court, or Conduit Court, of Skipton Castle.
All from photographs by Smith of Skipton.
Plate 46. To face page 426,
Lady Anne's Tomb in Appleby Church.
Appleby Castle, showing the Round Tower.
Both of these from photographs by W. E. Gray.
xvi. List of Illustrations.
Plate 47. To face page 427.
Cesar's Tower, Appleby Castle.
Lady Anne's Bee House, Appleby Castle.
Both from photographs by W. E. Gray.
Oak Chair, bearing initials and arms, which is believed to have belonged
to Lady Anne, and
BR0N7E Mortar, which was hers, and wliich bears upon it her own initials
and the date.
Both from photographs by G.C.W.
Plate 48. To face page 430.
Brough Castle.
From a photograph by the late Dr. Abercrombie.
Pendragon Castle.
From a photograph kindly taken by Mrs. Paul Mason.
Plate 49. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 431.
Brougham Castle, and the Stone with the inscription upon it which
was originally at Brougham Castle.
Both from photographs by W. E. Gray.
Plate 50. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 436.
Barden Tower. The Exterior.
The Great, or Conduit Courtyard at Skipton Castle.
Plate 51. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 437.
Barden Tower. The Exterior of the Church and House attached to
the Ruins, and restored by Lady Anne.
From a photograph supplied by Mrs. Lister.
The Dining Room of the Retainer's House attached to Barden Tower,
showing the oak roof restored by Lady Anne, and the battle-axe on
the table, carried by the ancester of the present tenant, Mr. Lister,
with Henry, Lord Clifford, at the Battle of Flodden Field, gth Decem-
ber, 1513.
From a photograph supplied by Mrs. Lister.
The Bridge at Brougham Castle.
From a photograph by Mr. W, Tuftoii.
Plate 52. . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 450.
Two Views of Sackville College, kindly lent me by the Warden, Mr.
Frank C. Hill.
Plate 53. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 517.
The Armour of George, Earl of Cumberland, father of Lady Anne,
now preserved at Appleby Castle, and the gauntlet of Henry, Prince
of Wales, which is with the armour.
From photographs by W. E. Gray.
xvn.
PREFACE.
I HAVE been familiar with the story of Lady Anne Clifford all my
life, although, unfortunately, the school-book containing the
first reference to her that came under my notice, referred to her
defence of Skipton Castle, a story which has no historical basis. It
was not, however, until I visited Westmoreland, that I realised how
important Lady Anne Clifford had been in that part of the world,
or understood the mark she had left upon her own districts there and
in Craven. She was, perhaps, the first great lady, not of royal birth,
who can be said to occupy a conspicuous place . in the history of
English life and manners. She is, too, one of the few women land-
owners whose memory amongst her own people has lasted fresh to
the present day, and who is famiHarly spoken of, in this twentieth
century, as though she had died but recently, and there might
be people still living who remembered her. The sight of her famous
Diary at Appleby Castle quickened in me the desire to write a book
about her, and the more I read of what others had written, the greater
was my wish to set down, in something like consecutive order, the
facts which constitute the story of her life. A casual search convinced
me that, although much had been lost, there were many docu-
ments still remaining which would repay investigation, and that
there might be others which ought to be sought for. The work has
been very interesting, and I have been rewarded beyond my
anticipation ; so many important documents with no little bearing
upon English history having come to light in my investigations.
I am thus able to make good certain discrepancies in the story, and
also to bring to light many new facts concerning Lady Anne. It
has been my good fortune to elucidate the facts of the celebrated
letter, the one story of Lady Anne that almost everyone knows ;
XVIU.
Preface.
and by means of the actual documents, to explode the popular idea,
and to prick once and for all the bubble set afloat by Horace Walpole,
in the pages of " The World."
In connection with this book, I owe the deepest gratitude to my
friend Lord Hothfield, since without his permission and assistance,
it could never have been written, and it is due to his ever-increasing
enthusiasm for the subject that the volume has assumed its present
shape. He has given me the utmost facilities for search, both in the
muniment rooms of Appleby Castle and of Skipton Castle, has placed
such materials as he possesses at my disposal and has permitted me
to work wherever I pleased amongst his papers, and to photograph
and copy to my heart's content Supplemented as it has always been
by the kindly assistance of Mr. R. B. Barrett, his agent, Lord Hoth-
field's encouragement has been most generous, and my gratitude to
him can be expressed in no measured terms.
Next I offer most hearty thanks to the Duke of Bedford, to Adeline,
Duchess of Bedford, to Lord and Lady Pembroke, and to Lord Sack-
ville for generous assistance afforded me in connection with such
documents and treasures as they possess bearing upon the history
of one who was not only Countess of Dorset, but also Countess
of Pembroke and Montgomery, and descended upon her mother's side
from the House of Russell.
Similiar assistance has been afforded me by the representatives of
that branch of the house of Russell which now holds the title of De
Clifford, and my warm thanks are due to Mrs. Arthur Stock, who on
behalf of her son, Lord de Clifford, placed the jealously guarded family
portraits, plate and jewels at my disposal ; and to the Honourable
Maud Russell, who lent me important books, manuscripts and illus-
trations, and took infinite pains to give me such material as I desired.
The descendants from the sixth Earl of Thanet, who represent
Lady Anne's father, George, Earl of Cumberland, in direct line,
have been no less considerate. Mrs. Leveson-Gower, to whom has
come the books and family treasures that passed to Mary, Coimtess
Gower, the fourth of Lord Thanet 's five surviving daughters, and
her cousin, Mr. Arthur F. G. Leveson-Gower, have assisted me most
readily, and have placed at my entire disposal such manuscripts and
books as they possess.
Preface. xix.
Thanks are also due in similar respects to Lady Burghclere, the Earl
of Carlisle, Lady Gwendolen Cecil, the Earl of Craven, the Earl of
Coventry, the Duke of Devonshire, the Earl of Donoughmore, Lord
Ernie, Lord Hastings, Lord Jersey, and the Dowager Countess of
Jersey, the Earl of Leicester, the Earl of Lonsdale, Lady Loch, the
Earl of Mayo, the Marquess of Northampton, the Duke of Portland
(and his kindly Librarian, Mr. Goulding), the late Rt. Hon. G. W. E.
Russell, the late Lord Ruthven, Lord St. John, the Earl of Verulam,
and Lord Wharton.
For local iniormation, I have had to trouble many people, and in
obtaining it, have received the utmost kindness and, I may venture
to say, made many new friends. Of the assistance rendered me by
Mr. Curwen, whose book on Castles has been invaluable, and by
Mr. D. Scott of the Penrith Observer, who has placed volumes and pam-
phlets galore at my disposal, and has poured out a wealth of local
knowledge before me, I cannot speak to highly. I am also indebted
to Mrs. Abercrombie, to Dr. Collins, to Mr. Carrick, to Dr. Lionel Cust,
to Dr. Farrer, to Mr. Gray (Tullie House Librarian at Carlisle), to Mr.
Crackenthorpe of Newbiggin, to the late Bishop of Carlisle, to Mr.
Gabbitas, to Mr. Alex Heelis, then Mayor of Appleby, and to his brother
the Rev. A. J. Heelis of Brougham, to Canon Hasell of Dalemain, to
Miss Harford of Blaize Castle, Mrs. Locker- Lampson, Canon Matthews,
Professor Moore-Smith, Lieut.-Col. Machell, Mr. Miller, the Rev.
F. W. Ragg, Mr. W. Peart Robinson, of Dallam Tower, Mrs. Pennell,
the late Duke of Polignano, Mr. Roper, Mr. G. L. Rives of New York,
the Rev. W. B. Smith, the late Dr. Wheatley and Mr. Whiteside,
for many letters, and for much information placed at my disposal.
In the Craven district, I have received kindly help, not alone from
Mr. Barrett of Skipton Castle, who has been never-failing in his aid,
but also from Miss Cowell of CUfton Castle, Bedale, who took infinite
trouble on my behalf, and from Mrs. Tempest and Mrs. Dawson.
Regarding Barden Tower, thanks are due to Mrs. Lister, and in the
case of Chfford Castle to the Honourable Mabel Bailey, Mrs. Leigh-
Spencer and Mrs. Dawson ; while as regards Knole, Mr. PhilUps has
assisted me many times, and in ample manner, from his great store of
knowledge and material, and as to Sackville College, the present
Warden, Mr. F. C. Hill, has not only given me such information as
XX.
Preface.
he possessed, but has placed his own book on the College at my disposal,
with liberty to quote from it in any way I might desire.
With regard to the investigation concerning the books Lady Anne
perused, many of which are represented in her pictures, I am deeply
thankful to my good friend Mr. Charles Sayle of Cambridge University
for his assistance, and also to the late Mr. Lawler, and several other
persons, who have aided me in this matter.
To the authorities of the British Museum, and notably to my good
friends Mr. Ellis, Mr. Barclay Squire, Mr. Pollard, Mr. Campbell
Dodgson, Mr. G. F. Hill, Mr. R. F. Sharp and Mr. Hogg, I owe hearty
thanks, and many apologies for the amoimt of trouble I have given
them, and the same debt I hasten to pay to Somerset Herald, who
opened to me the invaluable records at the College of Arms and notably
the Dugdale manuscripts. To those of the Record office, and notably
to Sir Henry Maxwell-Lyte, I return similar thanks for many favours
shown me, and to Miss D. O. Shilton, who, with the utmost care and
accuracy has copied many of the documents, I also express my sincere
gratitude. To the same lady I am indebted for more than one dis-
covery in the muniment room at Skipton which it was her pleasing
task to arrange and classify. I must not forget the authorities and
notably the Librarian, at Lincoln's Inn Library, nor those in the
manuscript department of the British Museum, especially mentioning
Mr. J. P. Gilson, and a special word of gratitude is due to Dr. Magrath
the venerable Provost of Queen's College, Oxford.
A special word of thanks must be given to Miss B. G. Hardy. Soon
after I had commenced my book, and had made some of the more
important discoveries, I ascertained that she had prepared a volume
on the same subject, which she was proposing to issue. With generous
goodwill, she allowed me to take over this book in manuscript, and to
make such use of it as I desired. I am thus indebted to her, not only
for ready consent to this arrangement, but for many happy suggestions,
and for the agreement to fulfil in this larger book her original desires.
The assistance so considerately given by Mrs. Paul Mason in photo-
graphing for me on many occasions must not be overlooked, and my
readers who see her beautiful pictures will agree with me in gratitude,
while to the professional workers, Mr. Gray, Messrs. Leonardson,
Preface. xxi.
Mr. Hatton and Mr. Smith, who have all taken great pains in carrying
out my wishes, I desire also to express my thanks.
To my son, and to Dr. Laing, late of Dundee, I express sincere and
hearty thanks for having read, with much care and attention, all my
proofs, and for many suggestions made in connection with them.
Finally, I should be failing in my duty, if I were not to include in this
long list of acknowledgments Lady Anne Clifford herself, whose illus-
trious memory has led me to read so many books of the hi^est
interest, and heis opened up before me a long vista of history.
While these pages have been passing through the press, a letter written by
Lady Anne has come into the possession of Lord Hothfield, and it is perhaps the
most interesting of any that she ever wrote. It is dated January 31st, 1598^
and was written by Lady Anne when she was a girl of eight years old, on the day
succeeding her own birthday. It is addressed to her father. Lord Cumberland,
who had only recently, that is to say in the previous December, returned to
London, and who was about to set out on his twelfth voyage ; and it would appear
to be likely that it was written in response to some letter she had from him, or
to acknowledge some present which he had given her on her birthday.
It is an extraordinarily fine piece of caligraphy for a child of that age, and the
signature is especially notable. The decoration round the letter is in water-
colour ; whether the sheet was purchased with this decoration upon it for the
purpose of the letter, or whether it was the work of the little girl herself, cannot,
of course, be stated. It is quite possible that the decoration may have been in
outUne, and that the child filled in the colours herseU from her own paint-box.
Such things happened in the days of Elizabeth, as they happen now. If that
is the case, Anne CUfiord must have had a very steady hand, and quite a nice
sense of colour, as the decoration is prettily carried out. The meaning of the
four similar monograms which occur on the corners of the letter is not clear. It
looks as though the monogram was composed of two N's. Various suggestions
have been made concerning its meaning, but neither of them are wholly satis-
factory.
At the same time as the delightful letter was obtained, there came into Lord
Hothfield' s possession, from the same source, a lock of hair belonging to Lady
Alethea Compton, together with an inscription in Lady Anne's writing, saying
that it was her grand-daughter's hair, and giving certain details. Lady Alethea
came in 1670, when she was about nine years old, to Pendragon Castle, and some
allusion to her visit will be found in the pages of the book No. 245, 246 and 247.
She was a young lady of great importance in her day, and eventually became
xxii. Preface.
possessed of a large fortune, as her mother's share of the Clifford estates descended
to her, but, as she died without issue, the estate and the armour and the silver
that had been bequeathed to Lady Northampton by Lady Anne, came to the
descendants of the other sister. Lady Thanet.
The wording of the letter is thus : —
I humbly intreate your blessing and ever comend my duety and sarvice
(sic) to your Lo : pra3?ing I may be made happy by your love I comend
my service (sic) and leave my trobling of your Lo : being yxjur
Daughter in all
Obedieot duety
Anne Clifford.
Jan. xxxj
1598-
and the letter is addressed in the manner following : —
" To the Right honorable and my good Lo : father the Earle of Cumber-
land." It is endorsed in another hand " when her lappe was eight
years old."
The inscription on the piece of paper which holds the lock of hair, reads as
follows : — " A lock of my grand child La Alatheia Compton's haire and the
measiure of her height brought me by Mr. Robert Braithwait, 14 July 1674."
This is in Lady Anne's hand, but in another hand is the following inscription : —
La Alatheia was then at the home of one Mr. Henry (?) EaMae of
Western neajr Castle Ashby [probably Ekin].
The packet is addressed : —
For the Right HonW'. the Countesse of Pembroke in Pendragon Castle
thees present.
N.B. Errors in printing : — 257 should be Westminster ; 258 should be Medals.
By an exact and scrupulous diligence and
observation, out of monuments, names,
words, proverbs, traditions, private records
and evidences, fragments of stories, passages
of books that concern not story and the like,
industrious persons, do save and recover
somewhat from the deluge of time.
Francis Bacon Lord Verulam
on Adoancement of Learning.
Preserve your loyalty
Defend your rights.
Lady Anne's motto.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY.
LADY Anne Clifford, the subject of the following pages, was the
only daughter, and eventually the only surviving child of
George, third Earl of Cumberland, by his wife Margaret Russell.
She was bom in 1590, and lived till 1676. Her life therefore covered
one of the most eventful periods of EngHsh History. As a child, she
came under the personal notice of Queen EUzabeth, who had been
present at her father and mother's wedding, as Henry VIII. had
•honoured the wedding of her grandfather's first wife. She was wel-
comed at the Court of James I., and took a considerable part in its
festivities, becoming, not only a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of
Denmark, but also one of the Queen's attached friends, and she
attended the funeral of her Mistress and took a prominent part in the
ceremonials. She was present at the coronation of Charles I., and
was represented by deputy at the coronation of Charles II. She
lived through the whole of the time of the Commonwealth and Pro-
tectorate, and came into conflict on more than one occasion with
Oliver Cromwell. She recorded in her famous Diary, with great
satisfaction, the event of the Restoration, and referred to the troubles
of the reign of Charles II. both in war, in fire, and in plague, and she
lived till nearly the end of his reign, djrlng only a few short years
before James II. was to ascend the throne.
Lady Anne came of one of the noblest families in England, the
CUftords, and should have possessed, throughout the greater part of
her life, their vast estates, many of which had been held since the
time of King John. These estates were strictly entailed upon heirs,
by deeds which were arranged in the time of Edward II., but Lady
Anne's father, for reasons which will be more clearly set forth, be-
queathed— illegally, there is but very little doubt — the estates to his
5
3 Lady Anne.
brother, and then to his nephew, who succeeded him in the Earldom ;
only arranging that in the event of the failure of male heirs, they
should all return to his daughter.
Lady Anne Clifford married twice, her first husband being the
Earl of Dorset, and her second the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery.
During the greater part of her married life with her first husband,
strenuously supported by her mother, she took every possible step to
obtain possession of the estates which were rightfully hers. In this
she was opposed by her husbemd, and by those at Court. King James
was persuaded on more than one occasion to deal with the matter in
judicial capacity, but Lady Anne refused to accept his decision,
going so far, it is said, at one audience, as to tear up the papers that
she was requested to sign. The King eventually made an award
against her, and she was for a time forced to accept it. Similar struggles
ensued during the early part of her married life with her second husband,
but eventually her cousin, Henry, fifth and last Earl of Cumberland,
died without male issue, and the whole of the estates fell into her
hands.
The remaining part of her life was passed wholly in the North,
where she reigned over a great part of the counties of Westmoreland
and Yorkshire as a queen, demanding and receiving obedience and
respect from her neighbours and tenants. Lady Anne was one of
the great diarists of the day, and has left behind her numerous MSS.
with details of her life, as well as a vast collection, prepared by her
mother and herself, of records concerning the Clifford family, and
respecting the marriages made by each person.
The account she gives in her earliest Diary of her life at Court is
one of fascinating interest, because here are set forth all the important
people of the time of Queen Elizabeth and of James I., and they are
referred to in familiar fashion. This kind of Diary she continued to
keep during her entire Ufe. When Lady Anne came to the North,
she found herself in possession of several great castles, more or less
in ruins, Skipton, Appleby, Brougham, Brough, Pendragon and
Barden Tower ; all of these she set herself to restore, and eventually
put into good condition, at a cost of over £40,000, an enormous sum
to spend on building in those days. Furthermore, she took in hand
the restoration of seven churches on her estates, and Bishop Rainbow,
Preliminary. 3
who preached her funeral sermon, was well advised in selecting for
his text the words of the Preacher, " Every wise woman buildeth her
house." She regarded herself as the " repairer of breaches and the
restorer of paths, to dwell in." Her personal power and influence in
the North were very great, so much so, that she was never styled
either Countess of Dorset or Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery,
but was always known as Lady Anne, and by that name she is still
spoken of, in the Craven district of the West Riding, and in her own
county of Westmoreland, by people so familiar with her history that
it is difficult to believe she died so many generations ago.
In dealing with her career, I have adopted throughout the book
the Westmoreland form of speech, and have called the great Lady
" Lady Anne," preferring to use the name by which she is generally
known, rather than to speak of her as Lady Anne Clifford, and later
as Lady Dorset, or as Lady Pembroke and Montgomery. There have
been many references to her in other books, and perhaps the first
which was of any importance, was contained in Ballard's Memoirs of
British Ladies, published in 1752. Lady Anne was also the subject
of one of Hartley Coleridge's essays on the Northern Worthies; a part
of her diary was quoted by Seward, in 1798, in his Anecdotes of Dis-
tinguished Persons; and another part has in quite recent days been
used by Mrs. Richardson in her Famous Ladies of the English Court.
A few striking extracts from the journal of the last few months of
her life which she kept were quoted some few years ago by Jackson in
a paper which he read before the Whitehaven Scientific Society, and
there have been many other allusions to her, notably those made
by Craik in his Romance of the Peerage ; by Costello, in the Memoirs
of Eminent Englishwomen ; by Kippis in the Biographia Britannica;
and by many other writers. As a rule, however, the references made
have been from copies of original documents. Unluckily, in some
instances, these copies are the only material available, since several
MSS. have been destroyed, but many important ones remain, and these
fortunately have been supplemented by recently discovered letters
Eind papers of great interest, notably the detailed account of the last
few months of her life, from her day-by-day book, the greater part of
which has unfortunately perished. All the original documents that
could be discovered in the various muniment rooms of the houses with
4 Lady Anne.
which she was associated have been placed at my disposal, in very
many instances for the first time, in order that an adequate repre-
sentation of this great lady of the Stuart times might be prepared.
Scarcely any other person in England has made a deeper impression
upon an estate. Lady Anne's restorations were on so vast a scale,
and her personaUty was one of such interest, that the charities she
founded, the churches and castles she restored, the gifts she made to
her great officials and tenantry, all still unite to set forth her praise,
and it hcis been thought fitting that the details available concerning
her long and interesting life, should be gathered up and set out in
clear and satisfactory fashion. It is hardly possible, in dealing with
a memoir of this sort, to avoid some of the dry bones of genealogical
and heraldic detail , but, tdthough dwelt upon as briefly as possible,
they are yet necessary for a proper understanding of her position,
while her own story has been told as far as possible in her own words,
and supplemented by the numerous letters and documents of interest
which have been the fruit of recent researches.
CHAPTER II.
THE CLIFFORD FAMILY.
IN these days, when close investigation is being made into the
history of the oldest families of the kingdom, it is pleasant to
have, in describing the Cliffords, to deal with an illustrious house
as to the importance of which there can be no question, and to have
before us a series of records of almost unparalleled completeness and
accuracy, the integrity of which has never been impugned. The
investigations of antiquaries of the present day have resulted in
sweeping away much of the tradition, which has gathered round the
early chronicles of many great houses, and in some instances, their
iconoclastic zeal has resulted in definite proof that the family in
question can not boast of the long pedigree and wealth of story to
which its name has hitherto been attached.^
With regard to the Cliffords, however, we are on firm ground,
thanks to the efforts made by Lady Anne and her mother to investigate
the long story of the family, and to copy with extreme accuracy all
deeds and documents that could be discovered. The result is, that
the accotmt of the Cliffords can be carried back quite easily to the
thirteenth century, and that of the Veteriponts, from whom they
derived their large possessions, a little earlier stiU.
The importance of the Cliffords started from a marriage of Roger
de Clifford in 1269 with Isabella de Veteripont, who was one of the
two co-heiresses of Robert de Veteripont, who had followed the
fortunes of Simon de Montfort, and had married a great heiress, Isabella
Fitzpiers, or Fitzpeter, or Fitzgeoffrey, for each of these names is
given to her in the pedigrees. She was the daughter of a Lord Chief
Justice of England and Ireland, who was called the Baron of Berk-
* See for example Peerage and Pedigree by Dr. J. Horace Round,
6 Lady Anne.
hampstead, and is generally known as John Fitzpeter, alias Fitz-
Geoiifrey.
We can carry the story of the Veteriponts back through three more
generations. It starts with a certain William de Veteripont, who
married a Cumberland lady, Maud, the daughter of Hugh de Morevill
or Morsville of Kirkoswald, and in this respect, it is interesting to
know that a part of the Kirkoswald estate still remains in this twentieth
century, in the hands of a direct descendant of Maud the heiress.
There is another example of the persistence of English place-names
connected with this estate, for Maud, in her widowhood, Uved upon a
small part of the land which was her jointure, and which was then
known as Meabum, but, either during her tenure or after her decease,
it W£is called Maud's Meabum, and that name or Mauld's Meabum it
bears to the present day, commemorating the residence of the thirteenth
century lady in whose jointure the lands were included.
William and Maud had a son Robert, who married Idonea, another
heiress, the daughter of John de Busley alias Burley, and with this
Robert de Veteripont, we find in use for the first time the well-known
coat of arms of the six golden annulets on a red ground, arranged
three, two 2ind one, which in different tinctures forms the arms of
other Cumberland families, as for example, the Musgraves and the
Lowthers. Robert de Veteripont died in Henry IH.'s time in about
1228, and he appears to have had at least two children, a girl named
Christian, who married Thomas Fitz-Ralph, the owner of Graystock
Castle, and John, who succeeded him, and who was buried in Shap
Abbey, the old Veteripont bur5dng place, in the 26th year of Henry III.
John married SibiUa, the daughter of WiUiam, Lord Ferrers, and
brought the horse-shoes into the heraldic achievement. He was the
father of Robert de Veteripont, whose eldest daughter Isabella, already
mentioned, became the wife of Roger de Clifford. Isabella had a
sister, Idonea, who was co-heiress with her, and between them the
two sisters owned the castles of Appleby and Brougham, and a very
large portion of the county of Cumberland. Idonea married twice,
and when she died, without issue, she left to the grandchild of her
sister Isabella, Robert, Lord Clifford, all her estates. The whole of
the vast property which had belonged to the Veteriponts, fell there-
fore to the Cliffords, and with it the Hereditary Sheriffdom of West-
To face p;if^e 6.
ELEANOR BRANDON,
Countess of Cumberland,
By permission of the Walpole Society
(see pages 20 and 347),
Ciiiu;en~Plinto.
SHAI' ABBEY
Cr.IFFORD CASTLE
(see pase 7) .
Mrs. Leii^li Spc^icer —I'luito.
To face page 7.
A PEDIGREE FROM THE THREE GREAT VOLUMES
GIVING LADY ANNE'S DESCENDANTS
(see page 360).
The Clifford Family. f
moreland, to which we make special reference in a separate chapter.
It is hardly necessary to trace the Cliffords themselves back to the
time of the Conquest, although several books of reference do so. They
are said to have been descended from a soldier Richard FitzPxme or
Pajme, or De Pons, a grandson of Richard, Duke of Normandy, and
it is stated that his son married the heiress who was in possession
of the castle and lands of CUfford ^ in Herefordshire, and sissumed the
name of De CUfford, dropping his old Norman patronymic. It is also
stated that his son, the second Clifford, was the father of Fair Rosamond
(06. 1176). These statements, however, are more or less conjecture,
Eind we prefer to commence our narrative at the later period,
where there are documents to support it.
There is no need to go in detail through all the history of the various
Cliffords who succeeded the fortunate Roger who married Isabella
the heiress. Sir Matthew Hale, in his Memoirs of the Cliffords, pre-
pared in view of the great claun Lady Anne made for the estates, goes
into the whole matter in considerable detail, and to his pages, and to
the long extracts from them which Whitaker makes in his History of
Craven.^ and to which he adds various documents, corroborating Hale,
and to the Dictionary of National Biography, we refer those who are
anxious to have the complete story of the various CHffords, Lords of
Skipton.
Lady Anne's books describe their marriages, and their children,
and in most instances, give a summary of the important details of
their career. They were warriors, and frequently to be heard of in
what the chronicle quaintly calls " the parts beyond the seas." They
were of great assistance to their successive sovereigns, raising men
and arms, well accoutred knights, esquires and archers, to serve the
King in his wars, but, at the same time, they were great landlords,
and appear to have been thoughtful for the interest of their tenantry,
even in times when Uttle of such thought was chronicled.
The death of Idonea de Veteripont had added to the Cumberland
estates the extensive property in Craven, and consequently, from the
time of the third Lord of Skipton, Robert de CUfford (1305-1344), we
' Now a complete ruin : —
The ruined arch and fall'n parapet Which echoed once with princely revelry
With weeds o'er run, there only mark the place. ClifEord, long since hath lost its ancient race ,
' Whitaker's History of Craven, 1878 ; see B.M. 20656.
8 Lady Anne.
find that they were not only holders of the ancient Honour of Skipton,
but were actually possessors of Skipton Castle, and of aU the estate
that went with it. John, the seventh Lord, was the first of the family
who became a Knight of the Order of the Garter, having been installed
in that great position in 141 2.
Roger who married the heiress will best be remembered as having
been the builder of Brougham Castle, and his name still appears above
the doorway, carved on the stone which bears the three words "Th}^
made Roger." (See plate). He it was who brought the Skipton
Castle estates into the family, but not entirely through an heiress.
Henry IH. had granted to him certain valuable possessions in Scotland
and in Monmouthshire, but they were exchanged with Edward II.
(Sept. 7, 131 1) for the Skipton Castle estates, then held by Lady
Latimer but leased to the Cliffords by the next succeeding Lord, and
so commenced the connection between the Clifford family and their
estates in Craven.
Robert, First Lord (1273-1314), who succeeded him in 1285, was
the re-builder of a great part of Skipton Castle and was responsible
for its famous round towers. He had been fiercely engaged in the
Scottish wars, and was slain in 1314, at Bannockburn, and was buried
either at Shap or at Bolton Abbey.
Following him, came his eldest son, another Roger, Second Lord
{ob. circa 1327), who took up arms against Edward II. in conjunction
with various other great nobles of the time. In the contest, his party
W£LS overthrown, several of his colleagues were beheaded, but Roger
himself, being desperately wounded, was regarded as practically a
dead man, and was spared from the scaffold. He was, however,
accused of high treason, and his estate, including his London House,
Clifford's Inn, was seized, but afterwards restored to him. He it was
who had a fair mistress whom he lodged in a house which, after her
name, was called " Julian's Bower," or probably more accurately
"Gillian's Bower," and this property, which stood within the bound-
aries of Whinfell Forest, is frequently referred to by Lady Anne. In
Hodgson's description of the County of Westmoreland, we learn that
it was a Httle house hard by Whinfell Park, the foundations of which
were in his time (1807) still visible, but he tells us that in the time of
Lady Anne Clifford, the house, which was a sort of shooting box, was
The Cufford Family. g
a spacious and interesting building— the hall, wainscotted with oak,
and hung round with trophies of the field, antlers and stag's heads,
and that one at least of the rooms was " adorned with very elegant
tapestry." It was then, clearly, a place of some importance, because
the diary makes many references to it, and it was one of the sights of
the neighbourhood, to which Lady Anne sent her guests. There are
frequent allusions to the visits to Julian's Bower of Mr. John Tufton
or Lord Wharton or Lady Thanet, who were at that time residing
with the old lady at either of her castles at Appleby or Brougham.
It has long since been destroyed. There were not much more than the
foundations of the hall itself, to be seen in 1807, but some of the smaller
buildings connected with it have been turned into a farmhouse, which
is stUl known as JuUan's Bower, and so perpetuates the old story of
the fourteenth century.
Roger, Second Lord, was thirty years old when he died, and he was
succeeded by his younger brother Robert, Third Lord (1305-1344),
who was a great hunter. It was to him that in 1333 came Edward
BaUiol, King of Scotland, on a visit to Brougham Castle, and on that
occasion the famous stag hunt took place, in which it is said that a
hoimd called Hercules pursued a fine hart from Whinfell to the
borders of Scotland, and back again to Whinfell.* It must not be
forgotten, in reference to this statement, that the borders of Scotland
extended much further south than they do at present, and that most
of Northumberland, and a great part of Cumberland and Westmoreland,
were at one time regarded as forming part of the kingdom of Scotland.
The place to which the deer went is spoken of as Redkirks, and a
Westmoreland antiquary has suggested that this word was a mistake
for Ninekirks in the parish of Brougham, but if it was so, the run
would not apppear to have been of any special importance, since
Ninekirks is merely another name for the church of Brougham, which
is on the outskirts of the forest of Whinfell. It is said that the hart,
giving its last desperate leap over a wall in the forest, cleared it and
fell dead, while the hound failed to leap the wall, and fell dead on the
other side. This is stated to have taken place near Hornby Hall
* See Nicholson & Burn's History, I., p. 399.
10 Lady Anne.
close to the Eamont river, and not very far from Ninekirks church.
The old folk rhyme concerning the exploit was : —
Hercules killed Hart a-grees
Hart a-grees killed Hercules.
The exploit was evidently a somewhat remarkable one, so the distance
is likely to have been longer than might be supposed from the names
of the places mentioned. The horns of the stag were nailed to a tree
close by, and in course of time became embedded in the growing wood,
and were practically almost overgrown. The tree was known as the
Hart's Horn Tree, and Lady Anne makes particular reference to its
destruction in 1658 by some mischievous people. " This summer,"
she saj^, " by some few mischievous people secretly in the night, was
there broken off and taken downe from thatt Tree near the Peiile of
Whinfeld Parke (which, for that cause was called the Hart's Home
Tree) one of those old Hartes Homes which (as is mentioned in the
Summerie of my Ancestors, Robert Lord Clifford's life,) was sett upp
in the year 1333, att a generall huntinge when Edward Ballioll, then
King of Scottes, came into England by permission of King Edward
the third, and lay for a while in the said Robert, Lord Clifford's castle
in Westmoreland, where the said King himted a great Stagg which
was killed nere the sayd Oake Tree. In memory whereof the Homes
were nayled upp in it, growing as it were naturally in the Tree, and
have remayned there ever since, till thatt in the year 1648, one of
those Homes was broken downe by some of the Army, and the other
was broken downe (as aforesaid) this year. So, as now, there is no
part thereof remayneing, the Tree itselfe being now so decayed, and
the Barke of it so peeled off that it cannot last long. Whereby "
she adds, " wee may see that t5mie brings to forgettfulness many mem-
orable things in this world, bee they never soe carefully preserved,
ffor this Tree, with the Hartes home in it, was a Thing of much note
in these parts."
The actual tree itself had not disappeared so late as 1670, because,
on the 14th of October, when Lady Anne was removing from Appleby
to Brougham, she says she rode through the town of Appleby, and
through Crackenthorpe, Temple Sowerby and Woodside, and " by
the Hartshome Tree, which I looked upon a while." It is interesting
The Clifford Family. ri
that there should be stories connected with these two successive rulers
of the fourteenth century, intimately concerned with the diary of
300 years later, to which we are about to refer, and it is certainly
extraordinary that three centuries after this wonderful feat on the
part of a Hart and a Hound had been performed, the horns should
have been still in existence, and the tree to which they were fastened
be known as the Hart's Horn tree. A part of the tnink ot the tree
existed even down to 1790, while its roots was still in situ in 1807,
and of this root Lord Hothfield has a part on his writing table at the
present day.
Roger, the home-loving, country gentleman, the great builder and
repairer of his castles (notably of Skipton to which he added one of
the round towers) and the lover of the chase, was succeeded by his
eldest son Robert, Fourth Lord {ob. circa 1362), a man of a very
different type, a soldier under Edward III. and the Black Prince, who
took part in the Battle of Cressy when sixteen, was at the Battle of
Poitiers when twenty-five, and is said to have perished in the French
wars in the year 1363, when only about thirty-two years of age.
He was succeeded by another Roger, his brother. Fifth Lord {1333-
1389), also a soldier, but at the same time a man who took considerable
interest in his estates and obtained the charter for the Kirkby Stephen
market, and permission to enclose a park at Skipton. He aLso rebuilt
a great part of Brougham Castle and added still further to Skipton
Castle. He was furthermore responsible for a pool of water which
used to exist on the west side of the castle, an artificial canal from
the river Lowther, joining the river Eamont. It had an island in its
centre, and formed part of the pleasure groimds attached to the castle.
He called it " Maud's Pool " after his wife, who was Maud Beauchamp,
and a small piece of water, near Brougham, still bears that name.
Roger, a wise and prudent man, had a wild son Thomas, Sixth Lord
(1365-1391), who was a soldier, fighting on the side of the French at
" Spruce in Germany " against the infidels, when he was slain in 1391
or 1393, when only about twenty-eight.
This sixth Lord's wife, Elizabeth, daughter of I^rd Roos of Ham-
lake was buried at Bongate Church, near Appleby, and was the only
member of the Clifford family who was interred in that building.
The parish church, St. Laurence, was then in ruins, having been burned
12 Lady Anne.
down. Elizabeth had acted as Sheriff of Westmoreland during her
son's minority, and she is represented on her tomb having a
shield of the Veteriponts upon her shoulder, in order, it is believed, to
mark the special position which she held.
His son John, Seventh Lord (1389-1422, K.G. 1421), built the
gatehouse at Appleby Castle. He was killed at the siege of Meaux.
Like the rest of the Cliffords, John married an heiress, in his case, a
rather considerable one, EUzabeth the daughter of Henry, Lord Percy
(son and heir of Henry, Earl of Northumberland) usually known as
Hotspur and a descendant from Edward III. About this lady there
is an interesting note in Lady Anne's records where she says " This
Elizabeth Percy Wcis one of the greatest wommen of her t3mie, both
for her Birth and both her Marriages . . . But the misfortunes of
the warre so followed her that in her t5n3ie her Grandfather the Earle
of Northumberland was beheaded, and his sonne her ffather, slayn
in Battell. (Her first husband was slain in France). And after her
decease, her sonne Thomas Lord CUfford, her son Johnne, Lord Neville
were also slain in Battell, and so was her Grandchild, John, Lord
Clifford."
Thomas, the son who has just been referred to, and Eighth Lord
(1414-1455) took part with Henry VI. against Richard, Duke of York.
He was killed at the battle of St. Albans, and was buried in the mon-
astery close by. He was responsible for building part of Appleby
Castle and the Chapel attached to it. He is perhaps better remembered
in history for the ingenious stratagem by which he and the men under
his command took the town of Pontoise. It was in the depth of winter,
and the grovmd and the buildings in all directions were covered with
snow. The Commander and his men robed themselves in white
sheets, and so were able to pass without notice across the snowy
landscape, and surprise and take the town.^ His wife was Joan (or
Jane), the daughter of Thomas Lord Dacre of GiQesland, and by her
he had four sons, John his successor. Sir Roger, Sir Thomas, and
Robert who took part in Perkin Warbeck's rebelhon.
Then we come to John, Ninth Lord CUfford (1435 ?-i46i), who has
the greatest notoriety of any member of the family, and is said to
' Exactly the same stratagem was employed iu 1916 in Italy by the brave Alplni.
The Clifford Family. 13
have been responsible for the cold-blooded murder of the Earl of
Rutland, the story which Shakespeare thus describes in the Third
Part of King Henry VI., Scene III. : —
Rutland : O let me pray before I take my death !
To thee I pray ; sweet Clifford, pity me !
Clifford : Such pity as my rapier's point affords.
Rutland : I never did thee harm : why wilt thou slay me ?
Clifford : Thy father hath.
Rutland : But 'twas ere I was born,
Thou hast one son, for his sake pity me ;
Lest in revenge thereof — sith God is just —
He be as miserably slain as I.
Ah, let me live in prison all my days ;
And when I give occasion of offence.
Then let me die, for now thou hast no cause.
Clifford : No Cause ?
Thy father slew my father, therefore die !
Lady Anne, in the summary she gives of her ancestor's life, does
her best to disprove the claim of maUgnity, and declares definitely
that the boy was a soldier and killed in open battle, that he was not
stabbed after the battle of Wakefield by Lord Clifford, and that Lord
Clifford did not cry out when the poor youth begged on his knees for
mercy, " Thy father slew mine, and I will slay thee." There is, of
course, grave doubt as to whether the story has any foundation in
fact. Hall and Holinshed are the first to refer to it, the former writing,
it must be remembered, nearly ninety years after the battle of Wake-
field, and his statement is somewhat confused.
It is natural that Lady Anne should have striven to disprove the
story, but we are afraid that, as Clifford is frequently spoken of as
" The Black-faced Clifford," and " The Butcher," there must have
been some accounting for such unenviable pseudonjmis, even though
this picturesque story may not itself be true.
Lady Anne's own words are as foUows : —
" For the great Aspersion layd upon this John, Lord Clifford, for killing
Edmund Plantagenett, Earle of Rutland, though it cannot be denyed.
But that this Lord Clifford killed the Earle of Rutland at the Battell
of Sandall Castle by Wakefield town, yett, most certaine it is that
14 Lady Anne.
the said Earle was then seventeene yeares ould, for the next
Childe that his mother had was King Edward the fourth, which King
was then eighteen years ould. Soe that this Earle being the next bom
after him, must needs be seventeene years old at this tyme, When
this Lord Clifford killed him, at which age it is probable that he was
in the Battle as a soldier, and not as the chronicles report him to be,
a child of twelve years old, and under the command of a Tutor, which
likely is very false as many written hand Bookes do testify. And in
the great Book of the NobiUty of this Kingdom, page 622 and 623
is mentioned all the ages of the said Richard Duke of York's
children, which were twelve in Number, and were borne within a little
tjmie one of another. And there it is expressed that this Earle of
Rutland was borne next to King Edward the fourth Soe he must
have needes be sixteene or seventeene years ould when he was slayne
by this John, Lord Clifford in BatteU."
Clifford was kiUed the day after the battle of Ferrj'bridge, in a little
valley close by the field of Towton, known as Dittingdale. On that
occasion the Lancastrian cause was crushed, and the House of York
came into possession of the Crown. Clifford was attainted in 1461,
and his honours and estates became forfeit, while the Lordship of
Skipton W£is first of all granted to a member of the Stanley family,
and then later to Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Henry VII., however,
reversed the attainder (in 1485), at the time that he restored to favour
the other adherents of the house of Lancaster, and the estates of
the family came back again to Henry, tenth Lord Clifford.
This John, Lord Clifford, was not only important in the family
history on account of his evil deeds but because, by his marriage, he
brought another title into the family, one which was claimed per-
sistently by Lady Anne, and which she used in almost all the inscrip-
tions she put up over her restored Castles. Lord Clifford had married
Margaret, the only daughter of Sir Henry Bromflete, whose father,
Sir Thomas, had claimed to be Lord Vescy, the title having come
through his wife, who was Margaret St. John, the daughter of Lord
St. John. Sir Henry was created Baron of Vescy in 1449 by writ
with a limitation (unique in English Writs) to his heirs male.^ He died
• See Holinshed for a long account of the Vesies and for an interesting anecdote concerning
their family claim to great antiquity.
"The Peerage of De Vessy had, however, become extinct, having been expressly litoited
The Clifford Family. 15
in the life-time of his mother, and the title was assiimed, in ignorance
of the special limitation or in defiance of it, by his daughter Margaret,
who brought with it, to Lord Clifford, the Londesborough estates.
After the death of the ninth Lord she married a notable person in
Cumberland, Sir Lancelot Threlkeld of Yanwath, and she died in 1493.
When the Yorkists succeeded to power, they not only had Lord
CUfford attainted, and his possessions seized, but they sought for his
children, and did their best to find them, in order that they also
should be destroyed. Now comes into the family history the interest-
ing romance connected with the Shepherd Lord, Henry de Clifford
(i455?-i523). It is always stated that, until the accession of Henry
VII., he had been concealed in the fells of Cumberland, Uving the life
of a shepherd. For a while, the story tells us, he was at Londesborough
amongst the shepherds there, brought up as one of their children, and
then, when his mother's second marriage took place, he was brought
near to his stepfather's estate of Threlkeld.
There are the remains of a great room or hiding place at Yanwath
where it is stated that in his boyhood the Shepherd Lord was often
hidden away. Wordsworth thus refers to his step-father. Sir Lancelot :
Give Sir Lancelot Threlkeld praise :
Hear it, good man, old in days !
Thou tree of covert and of rest
For this young bird that is distrest,
Among thy branches safe he lay
And he was free to sport and play.
When falcons were abroad for prey.
Later on, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a man of cruel and implacable
to the heirs male of the body of the grantee by the writ of the 24th January, 1448-9, under
which it originated, a singular (and indeed in England unique) instance of such limitation in
a barony created by writ. Nevertheless, this John, Lord Clifford, and Henry, his son, are
each called in the Patent Roll (3 Henry VIII., Part i, M. 12) Lord Clifford, Westmoreland,
and Vescy, though they were only hereditary Sheriffs of Westmoreland, and neither was
Baron of Vessy, or Vescy." — The Complete Peerage. New Edition, by Gibb, vol. m., 294.
" Sir Henry de Bromflete, in the 27th of Henry VI., was summoned to Parliament by a
special writ, dated 24th January, 1449, as Henrico Bromflete de Vesci, Chevalier, in remainder
to the heirs male of his body, being the first and only writ with such a limitation. Lord Vescy
died this January, 1468, without male issue, when the barony expired, according to the terms
of the writ. The principal part of the property devolved upon his only daughter Margaret de
Bromflete, who married, first, John, Lord Clifford, and, secondly. Sir Lancelot Threlkeld." —
Burhe's Extinct Peerage, page 75.
i6 Lady Anne.
nature, came to reside on the estates which were temporarily in his
possession, and the boy was moved away nearer to the borders of
Scotland. He is said to have been wholly ignorant of his own identity,
and he was not taught either to read or write,' lest by any accident
his position should be revealed. For twenty years, he appears to have
led this quiet, retired life, while meantime the House of York became
gradually extinct. Then Henry VII. succeeded to the throne, imiting
both Houses, the Lancastrians came again into power, and Henry
Clifford was brought away from the fells of Cumberland and presented
to his Sovereign as the true and lawful heir to the estates, the only
remaining son of John de CUfford and Tenth Lord of the Honour of
Skipton. The King restored Henry, in blood and honours, in 1485,
and summoned him to Parliament, where he sat till 1497, but his
interest was neither in statecraft, nor in soldiering. We are boimd,
however, to mention, that in the year 1513, when over sixty years of
age, he did take part, at the command of his King, in the battle of
Flodden Field, and W£is appointed to an important position in the
army. In the old metrical history of Flodden Field (said to have
been written by a schoolmaster of Ingleton in Craven), his tenantry
are referred to as " they [who] with the histy CHfford came," and then,
further on, in the same rhyme, we get the lines.
All such as Horton Fells had fed
On CliflEord's banner did attend.
Lady Anne tells us he never travelled out of England, but she says,
"He did exceedingly deUght in Astronomy and the contemplation
of the Course of the stars, which it is likely he was seasoned in, during
the course of his shepherd's life." He built a great part of " Barden
Tower .... where he lived much," because in that place he had
furnished himself with instruments for that study.* " There "was a
tradition," Lady Anne states, in one of the documents she copied, " that
' To the end of his life he was unable to sign his name, although he learned to read in later
years. Of his signature CUfford, the C alone is said to be in his handwriting, the " lyfforde "
being added by an amanuensis.
» As further evidence of the literary instincts of Henry, the Shepherd Lord, Whitaker records
that, amongst the Thoresby MSS. he found a Treatise of Natural Philosophy in old French
which had been presented to the Priory of Bolton by Lord CUfford, and which bore information
m It to that effect. After the dissolution of the Priory, it had passed into other hands from
whence it reached the place where Whitaker found it, '
The Clifford Family. jj
by his skill in astronomy [for which one should perhaps read astrology],
he, on the behalf of a grandson, read the stars, and foretold that his
grandson should have two sons, between whom and their posterity
there should be great suits at law, and that the heirs male of the line
should end with those two sons, or soon after them, and this actually
came to pass." She adds to the summary which she gives of her
ancestor's life these words " He was a plain man, and lived for the
most part a country life, and came seldom to Court, or to London.
But when he was called thither to sit in them a peer of the realm
... he behaved himself wisely and nobly and like a good English
Manne."
Henry, Tenth Lord (i455?-i523) married twice, first Anne, the
daughter of Sir John St. John, a distant cousin to Henry VII., and
second, Florence, the daughter of Henry Pudsey of Barfoot, Yorkshire,
who had been previously married to Sir Thomas Talbot of Bashall,
and who, after Lord Clifford's death, married for the third time Richard,
a son of the Marquis of Dorset. Whitaker draws attention to the
manner in which this lady went up steadily in social position. Her
father was an esquire, her first husband a knight, her second a baron,
her last, the grandson of a Queen. He also reminds us that she sur-
vived her father-in-law, who was slain at Towton Field, for ninety-
seven years, and if she retained her memory, she must have been a
person of extraordinary interest to her descendants, because, in her
time, she must have conversed with many of the principal persons
who took part in the war between the rival houses of York and
Lancaster. She had a daughter, Dorothy, who married first. Sir Hugh
Lowther, and secondly. Lord Grey, the son of her mother's third
husband.
Amongst the records at Lowther there is an interesting document
dated the i6th year of Henry VIII., 1524, referring to Lord Grey and
other persons acting on his behalf and on that of his wife Florence, and
acknowledging the receipt of certain rentals coming to £y^ which was
due to him through Sir Thomas Clifford, brother to Henry, Lord Clif-
ford. The rent was evidently a part of Lady Florence's portion.
Lady Anne has endorsed this statement, drawing attention to the
fact that the Lord Clifford mentioned in it was a little while afterwards
created Earl of Cumberland.
c
i8 Lady Anne.
In connection with this marriage there is still preserved at Lowther
Castle the receipt or acquittance dated 22 Henry VIII., 1560, in which
Sir John Lowther states that he had received from the hands of the
Right Reverend Father in God, Richard, the Abbot of Shap Abbey ^^50,
which was in full payment of 300 marks which Henry, Earl of Cum-
berland had to pay to him, in connection with the marriage of Hugh
Lowther his son, to Dorothy Clifford, the Earl's sister. The document
is one of rather special interest, as it is one of the latest in which the
proper dignity was given to the Abbots of Shap Abbey, for soon after
they were dispossessed not only of dignity but of possession.
Heniy's son, Henry, Eleventh Lord (1493-1542), who succeeded
him, and eventually became the first Earl of Cumberland, was
his child by the first wife, and he, when a boy, was a personal friend of
Henry VIll, and hence, in due course, obtained from the King the
new title of Earl of Cumberland. The King also made him President
over the Northern parts of England, Lord Warden of the Marches,
and K.G. in 1537. His London house was Derby Place, adjoining
St. Benet's, and practically on the site on which the present Herald's
College stands. He was a soldier, actively employed in defending the
English borders against the Scots, and, when attacked in Skipton
Castle by Robert Aske and his feUow rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace,
bravely defended it against them all. Froude, in his History of
England, refers to an act of romantic heroism in connection with this
defence of Skipton Castle in 1536. Robert Aske, he tells us, had two
brothers, Christopher* and John, who, instead of taking part in the
rebellion, made their way to their cousin the Earl of Cumberland, and
assisted him in the defence of Skipton. Lady Eleanor Clifford,^" his
son's young wife, " with their three small children," and many ladies,
• Christopher hved with Lord Cumberland for a time, and his will, dated 1538 and quoted
by Miss Madeleine and Miss Ruth Dodds in their wonderful book on the Pilgrimage of Grace
(p- 51), "gives a pleasant picture of the easy bachelor life of a cultured gentleman." "His
room," they add, "in Skipton Castle was well furnished with books on genealogy and the
noble art of hunting, as well as French romances, while in his room at ihe 'new lodge,' the
building of which he was superintending for the Earl, was his 'cloth of the gieat mappa
mundi,' and a tapestry embroidered with the history of St. Eustace."
1" Froude has gone astray in the names ; Clifford did not marry Lady Eleanor Brandon till
Midsummer, 1537, and she never had more than one child ! He evidently means the
younger daughters of Lord Cumberland, Eleanor and Anne, who very likely were at Bolton
\7ith their mother, Margaret, Lady Cumberland,
The Clifford Family. i0
he says, were staying at the time of the insurrection at Bolton Abbey,
ten mUes from the fortifications of Skipton, and on the third day of
the siege, notice was sent to Lord Cumberland that they should be
held as hostages for his submission. The following day it was
threatened that they should be brought up in front of the storming
party, and every possible indignity should be done to them. Chris-
topher Aske, however, in the middle of the night, accompanied, it is
said, by the Vicar of Skipton, a groom and a boy, stole through the
camp of the besiegers, crossed the moors by unfrequented paths,
conducted the ladies through the commons in safety, and brought
them into the castle.^^ The same person, it is said, a little later on,
flung open the gates of the castle, dropped the drawbridge, and rode
down through the rebels in full armour to the market cross at Skipton,
and there read out the King's proclamation to the crowd, and in
disdainful fashion rode back again to the castle.
The eleventh Lord Clifford, first Earl of Cumberland, like his pre-
decessor, married twice. His first wife, was Margaret, daughter of
George Talbot, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury, his second, a great heiress,
Margaret, daughter of Henry Percy, fifth Earl of Northumberland.
She, like her predecessor, lies at Skipton. She had brought many
lands in Craven to add to the CUfford inheritance, some of which are
still known as the Percy Fee.
The Shepherd Lord (Henry, Tenth Lord) had many other children;
one of them, who was knighted, became the Governor of Berwick
Castle ; another, Dorothy, married successively Sir Hugh Lowther of
Lowther and Lord Grey, the eldest son of the Marquis of Dorset ; and
four of his daughters, by his first wife, married neighbours of importance
cuid of influence, Mabel marrying WiUiam FitzWiUiam, Earl of South-
ampton; Eleanor, Sir N. Markenfield; Anne, Sir Christopher Metcalfe
of Nappa ; and Joan, Sir Ralph Bowes.
The Eleventh Lord Clifford was responsible for the great gallery in
the tower at Skipton Castle, and he is said to have erected this part
of the castle especially for the accommodation of his high-bom
daughter-in-law, Lady Eleanor Brandon, who was his son's first wifci
As a reward for his courage and loyalty to the crown, he received as
" L. & P. of Henry VIII, xil (l), 11806.
20 Lady Anne.
a grant, the priory of Bolton and the land belonging to it, and he also
had assigned to him a great part of the lands which had belonged to
the dissolved priory of Marton. By these means, and by the addition
of the great Craven estate that came to him from Lady Margaret Percy,
he enormously increased the extent of his possessions and became the
ruler over practically the whole of the Craven district. By his will,
he left a considerable sum of money to be spent on the highways in
and about Craven, and also on those on his Westmoreland estate.
Furthermore he bequeathed money to the church of Skipton, and to
the Canons of the Priory of Bolton, making special arrangements
as to requiems and dirges that should be simg for the benefit of his
soul in every parish church over his vast estates.
Following him came the Twelfth Lord, who was also second Earl
of Cumberland (15 17-1570), and was notable for the importance of
his first marriage, because he married the lady who is generally
known to the Chroniclers as " Lady Eleanor Brandon, Her Grace," and
who was the daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, by Mary,
Queen Dowager of France, daughter of Henry VII. ^^ The marriage
was one of extreme magnificence, Henry VIII. her uncle, being actually
present, and the bride and groom came down to Skipton to occupy
the apartment which had been built on by his father to that house,
and which had been begun and completed in the short space of only
three months. The Lady Eleanor Brandon, however, only lived for
ten years, but the expenses of this semi-royal alliance had been so
serious that Lord Cumberland had to dispose of one of his great memors,
that of Temedbury, in Herefordshire, the last piece of land held by
the family that had belonged to the original Clifford estates, and which
had come to the Cliffords of Chfford Castle from their first marriage
1^ With reference to the marriage of Eleanor Brandon, Lady Anne has not been quite as care-
ful as usual, but as she has fortunately stated in the entry In her diary that the marriage took
place in the 27th year of Henry VIII., which was counted from the 22nd April, 1535, to the
2ist April, 1536, it is clear that the marriage which she says took place at midsummer, 1537,
actually occurred in June, 1535. A confirmation of this may be obtained from the fact that in
the letters and papers of Henry VIII. (see vol. x., no. 243 (8) ), amongst the Acts passed by
Parliament, 4th February, 1536, was one concerning Lady Eleanor Clifford's jointure. It is
therefore clear that the child who is referred to in this entry is the infant who was born before
October, 1536, and died soon afterwards, and the two girls named in it must have been the
younger daughters of Lord Cumberland, Eleanor and Anne, children of Margaret, Countess of
Cumberland,
The Clifford Family. 21
to an heiress in Norman times.^* After the death of his wife, however,
it is said that he retired into the country, and then again became rich.
He had been made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Queen
Anne Bole3ni in 15^3, but when he left London, and settled down in
the north, he gave up his time to studying alchemy and chemistry,
devoting special attention to tr3dng to discover the philosopher's
stone. Lady Anne tells us that he was " a great distiller of waters
and maker of chemical extracts, very studious in all manner of learn-
ing," and she adds that he had " an excellent library of books, both
hand-written books and printed, to which he was addicted exceedingly,
especially towards his latter end." ^* These studies appear to have
been carried on at Brougham Castle.
Previous to all this time, he went through a remarkable experience,
which Lady Anne describes with much care. " After the death of
his first wife," she says, " hee fell into an extreame sickness, of which
he was at the length laid out for a dead Man, upon a Table, and
covered over with a Hearse of Velvet. But some of his Men, That
were then very carefull about him, perceiving some little signs of
Life on him, did apply hot cordials inwardly and outwardly unto
him, which brought him to life againe. And soe after he was layne
in his bedd againe Hee was fayn for fower or five weekes after to suck
the milk out of a woman's bresist, and only to live on thatt food. And
after to drink Asses milk, and live on that for three or fower months
longer Yett after that, before the year was ended, he became a strong
able man, and so continued to bee till a Little before his death."
There are exceedingly few papers or letters in existence connected
with his first wife the Lady Eleanor Brandon (Her Grace), but,
amongst the Appleby documents is one letter entirely in her hand-
" We have discovered at Sldpton Castle aa interesting fragment of manuscript which probably
belonged to this second Earl, but which might even have been prepared for Henry, the Shepherd
Earl, in connection with his studies of alchemy, as the handwriting belongs to a period very
late in the fifteenth or very early sixteenth century. Thanks largely to the kindly assistance
of Mr. J, P. Gilson, the Keeper of the Manuscripts Department of the British Museum, it has
been identified as part of the treatise called the Compound of Alchemy which George Ripley
an Augustinian Canon of Bridlington {ob. circa 1490) wrote and dedicated to Edward IV.
It illustrates as has been well said " the growing interest in alchemy which the relaxation of
the laws against multiplying gold encouraged " and " it shows traces of Platonist influences."
This treatise was first printed in 1591 and then set forth in full by Ashmole in his Theatrum
Chemicum, 1652.
^* They had possessed it for 326 years !
i,2 Lady Anne;.
writing, which is here ilhxstrated. It is addressed to her husband,
whom she styles " Dere Hart," and it describes in somewhat frank style
the s5miptons of her illness at that time, which she thought were those
either of jaundice or of ague. It is written from Carleton, and in it
she asks her husband to send a physician to her, because the symptoms
had increased since they had commenced at Brougham Castle, and
she suggests a certain Dr. Stephens, who, she states, understands her
constitution. She refers to her sister, Anne the wife of Edward Grey,
third Lord Pow}^, calling her Powis, and saying that she was desirous
of seeing Lord Cumberland, and had come to stay with her, while the
letter is addressed " To my moste Lovynge Lorde and Husband, the
Erlle of Combreland."
In 1552 or 1553, he married in Kirkoswald Church, as his second
wife, Aime, the daughter of William, Lord Dacre of Gillesland, the
second marriage of a Clifford to the daughter of a Lord Dacre, as
Thomas, the eighth Lord had made a similar marriage. She was a
woman of a very domestic taste, who was never either at or near
London in the whole of her life, and so attached was Lord Cumberland
to her, that he passed over to her, under the Great Seal of England,
all his lands in Westmoreland as her jointure. She was a person who,
according to Lady Anne, employed herself only in domestic and
home affairs, whilst she was maid, wife and widow, and she was his
wife for seventeen or eighteen years, and his widow for eleven years.
She died at Skipton Castle, and was buried in Skipton church.
After the death of his first wife, her husband only went three times
up to Court, once to the Coronation of Queen Mary (1553), then to be
present at the marriage of his daughter Margaret (1540- 1595), his only
surviving child by his first wife, with Lord Strange, afterwards Earl of
Derby, February 7th, 1555, and finally to " see Queen Elizabeth, and
present his duty to her, a little after she became Queen."
By his second wife, he had three children : George, (1558-1605),
who succeeded him and became third Earl of Cumberland, the father
of Lady Anne ; Francis, Lord Clifford (1559- 1640), a Knight of the
Bath, eventually Fourth Earl of Cumberland, who in his brother's
lifetime was in possession of the Skipton estates, and who died at
Skipton in 1640/1 (he had married Grissel, the widow of Lord Aber-
gavenny), and Frances, {ob. 159a), who became Lady Wharton.
The Clifford Family. 23
We have just mentioned that he had but one child by his first wife,
Eleanor Brandon, and she was regarded by many persons as the legal
heir to the English throne, and therefore a young lady of considerable
importance. The Duke of Northumberland had arranged to set
aside the will of Henry VIII. in so far as it affected the succession of
Mary and Elizabeth, on the ground that their father had determined
their illegitimacy in Acts of Parliament which had never been repealed,
and he had also persuaded Edward VI. to settle the Crown on the
heirs of the Duchess of Suffolk, younger sister of Henry VIII., who
were Frances, Duchess of Suffolk, and Eleanor, who had been Countess
of Cumberland. Furthermore he arranged, somehow or other, that
the Duchess of Suffolk's elder daughter. Lady Jane Grey, should be
the chosen heir to the throne, and then he married her to his eldest
unmarried son. Lord Giiilford Dudley.
Mrs. C. C. Stopes, working amongst the uncalendared Proceedings
of the Court of Requests of Elizabeth, has found out, however, that
Northumberland's far-reaching vision went even further, for he
arranged the betrothal of his brother, Andrew Dudley, who was
Admiral of the Fleet, with this only daughter and heir of Eleanor,
Countess of Cumberland. The girl appears to have been about
thirteen when betrothed, or possibly a year or two older, and there is
a warrant in existence to Sir Andrew Dudley as Master of the Ward-
robe that he may take for the Lady Margaret Clifford, daughter to
the Earl of Cumberland, and himself, for their wedding apparel, sundry
silks and jewels. This is dated the 8th June, 1553. It was arranged
that Sir Andrew and his bride were to live for some time at^Skipton,
and inventories were carefully prepared of all the various things in
the way of jewels, cloth, plate and furniture which were to belong to
Lady Margaret and to her husband, and these were signed in her
presence, and witnessed by several of her neighbours. Events.'^how-
ever, moved very rapidly. The young King died before the will had
been ratified by Parliament, and before Sir Andrew had married the
lady. Immediately upon the proclamation of Queen Mary, the Earl
of Cumberland threw in his allegiance with the new Queen, took the
keys of her treasures from his daughter, the keys of the rooms. from
Dudley's servants with the inventories, and possession of all the
property in the name of Queen Mary. A little later on, he came up
24 Lady AnnIe.
to London, handed over his Garter jewel to the Queen, with other
jewek, and it was then agreed that Sir Andrew, being in the Tower,
the Earl of Cumberland should keep the rest of Sir Andrew's goods,
on paying five hundred pounds into the Exchequer.
Queen Mary appears to have then arranged that the young girl
should marry Henry, Lord Strange, son and heir of the Earl of Derby,
She presented the bride with a brooch of thirteen diamonds, and all the
household linen and robes which had belonged to Sir Andrew Dudley,
so that, as Mrs. Stopes points out, it seems to be probable, that Lady
Margaret CUfford wore at her marriage to Lord Strange on the 7th of
February, 1554, the very robes of gold and silver tinsel which Sir
Andrew had withdrawn from the Royal wardrobe for his own intended
wedding in June, 1553.
Mrs. Stopes refers at some length to the legal proceedings which
the Dudleys instituted against Lord Cumberland for all the wonderful
jewels and plate which had been prepared for the wedding, and much
of which was still at Skipton, but none of it appears to have ever come
again into the possession of the Dudleys, and Sir Andrew lost both
his bride and his property, as well as all his Court influence.
The story is set out in full detail in Mrs. Stopes's work on Shake-
speare's Environment, and it includes the deposition and examination
of Lady Margaret Clifford herself, then Lady Margaret Strange, who
testifies to the accuracy of this strange and romantic story.
i5
CHAPTER III.
THE FATHER AND MOTHER OF LADY ANNE.
IN this brief historical survey of the various members of the Clifford
family, we now come to the third Earl of Cumberland, who was
the father of Lady Anne, and who, possessing a very strange and
complex character, was a mass of curious contradictions. He succeeded
to the earldom when he was only eleven years old, on the death of his
father, Henry the second Earl ; was brought up with his guardian,
Francis, second Earl of Bedford, K.G., and spent his youthful years
either at Chenies or at Woburn. In the course of time he went to
the University, and was entered as a nobleman at Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he took his degree, and then he is said to have
migrated to Oxford for a few months, in order to give special attention
to mathematics and to geography, the last-named science being one in
which he was peculiarly interested aU his Ufe. In 1577, when nineteen,
he married Margaret, the daughter of his guardian, the marriage
having been arranged when he was a boy by their respective parents.
For a while, nothing could have been more satisfactory, and the young
couple appear to have been attached to one another, and exceedingly
happy. It is remarkable, in going through a series of letters from
Lord Cumberland to his wife, during the years of their married life,
to notice the deep affection with which he addresses his wife. The
letters as a rule commence " My sweet Meg," or " Sweet and dear
Meg," " My Deare Love," or " Dear pledge," or " To my very loving
wife," or " To my only beloved wife," while the conclusion of the
letters are similar in their marks of affection, but still more variable
in their actual phraseology, " Thyne till death, whatsoever happens,
my little Meg," " Yours only, in all fortunes," " Thyne ever, as I
have promised," " Yours ever, as I have voed," " Thine as holly as
ever man was woman's," " Yours from all others," " Committing
26 LadV Anne.
thee to thy hart's contentment, and myselfe to thy love," " Wishing
to God that you may doe in all this, and in all other things, what is
pleasantest for you," " Th3me only, now and for ever," " Th3nie as
thou wilt." Even when he started on his wanderings, he kept up a
correspondence with Lady Cumberland, and writes to her in an equally
affectionate style, so much so, that it is difficxilt to believe, even when
we must, that the phrases are merely those dictated by courtesy.
Later on, unfortunately, things became different. The earlier letters
are delightful to read. Take one for example, dated 6th of February,
1589,^ a letter which Lady Anne endorses as the " letter my ffather
writt to my mother presently after my Berthe when hee then laye at
Bedford House at London." In this he says : —
My SWEET Meg,
The happy news of thy safe delivery more gladded me than ansrthing I heard
or saw since I saw thee, and sweet Meg, as it hath pleased God thus to please
thee with the long desired wish (which is more welcome to me than anything
else in the world could have been) so with merry heart and thoughts comfort
thyself, as thou mayest the sooner recover thy former strength to His praise
and my chiefest comfort. I stayed this bearer some days, in hope myself should
have delivered this, but the not coming of my ship, which is yet stayed by
contrary winds, will not suffer me, as this bearer can let you know, who has
a little son. The humour of the men I have to deal with all I know. It is
troublesome now for thee to write, wherefore, with hearty prayers to God for
thy well-doing. His blessing and mine to our little ones, and lovingest com-
mendation to thyself, I commit thee to God's holy tuition.
This 6th of February, 1589,
Thine only, as most bound,
(Signed) George Cumberland.
Even, however, in the early days of their married life. Lord Cumber-
land was given to extravagance and wastefulness, and was gradually
losing part of his great inheritance, and reducing his estate. Then,
the desire seized him to wander, and to become an adventurer, a
navigator, partly with the idea of adding other territories to the
English crown, and increasing its power and dignity, and partly
with the feeling that, by such voyages he would be able to
restore again to his fortune, money which in the days past he had
wasted. He must have been a handsome and a distinguished
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To face page 27.
National Portrait Gallery. Emery Walker — Photo.
MARGARET, COUNTESS OF CUMBERLAND,
Lady Anne's Mother at the age of 25 (see page 26J.
The Father and Mother of Lady Anne. ij
looking man. His daughter speaks of him as " a man of many
naturall perfections, of a great witt and judgment, of a strong
body, and full of agillity, of a noble mind, not subject to prid or
arogancy," and adds that he was a man " generally beloved in this
kingdom." It is clear that he was an attractive, fascinating man,
of unimpeachable courage, and one who spared his body no more
than his purse, while all accounts tell us that he was accomplished in
knightly exercises, full of romantic ideas, and splendid and magnificent
in his costume.^ All this made him attractive to Queen Elizabeth,
and when, if there is any truth in the popular story, she once dropped
her glove in coquettish fashion, when he was before her at Court, and
he picked it up, kissed it, and presented it on his knees to his Queen,
she was quite ready, flattered by the attention that this handsome
man paid her, to grant him a special measure of her favour. The
story goes that she returned the glove to him, permitting him as a
great privilege to retain it, and that he had it mounted with his jewels
and set it in the upper part of his helmet, where, in the miniature
painted of him by Hilliard, now to be seen in the collection
owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, and in his portrait in oil in
the Bodleian Library, it may be clearly discerned ; and that he
constituted himself from that moment * her special champion, and
vowed that he would serve her all his life. She actually appointed him
her official champion in 1590 when old Sir Henry Lee resigned the office.
When this romantic episode happened we cannot tell. It has been
said that the presentation took place on his return from one of his
voyages, but that seems to be unlikely, since the glove is represented
in a portrait of him dated 1588, and it Wcis not until that year that
Lord Cumberland commenced his really important voyage, for the
two cruises previous to that were of slight moment, and not attended
with much success. It may have been, however, that he first attracted
* There is a portrait of Lord Cumberland in gilt armour which belonged to Mr. John Leveson-
Gower. It was exhibited at the Tudor Exhibition in i8go (445, p. 133). The same owner
exhibited a miniature of Lady Anne (1115, page 214) and there is a miniature of Lord Cumber
land in armour in the Sotheby Collection (1112, page 214).
* There is an interesting portrait of Lord Cumberland engraved in Holland's Herwologia
(1620) said to have been obtained from a shop in the Strand, according to the B. M. copy.
He aJso appears on the title page of Samuel Purchas his Filgrimes, (second col. from
left), third effigy from the top.
2g Lady Anne.
the attention of Queen Elizabeth after he had returned from these
two early voyages.
It was in 1586 that he first started out, and he was back again in
September, 1587, his cruise having extended to the mouth of the river
Plate, but in 1588 he was put in command of the " Elizabeth Bona-
venture," a ship of the Royal Navy of six hundred tons, in which he
set out against the Spanish Armada, and after the decisive action off
Gravelines, he is said to have carried the news of the victory to the
Queen in the camp at Tilbury. Then commenced his more serious
voyages. The Queen lent him the " Golden Lion," with which to
undertake another expedition. He equipped it at his own expense,
gathered up other ships to accompany it, and started off, but had to
return, after a fruitless endeavour, on account of the bad weather.
In the next year, the Queen placed another ship at his disposal, the
" Victory," and under similar arrangements to the last, he providing
all the expenses of the equipment of that ship and six others. He set
sail from Pl5miouth. With him was Edward Wright, the mathe-
matician and hydrographer, who wrote an account of the voyage.
He met Sir Francis Drake's vessels returning from Cadiz, was able to
relieve them in their extremity, and then in the Channel captured
three French ships, and several others off the coEist of Portugal.
In the Azores, he made stUl further captures, taking and dismantling
Fayal, called by Lady Anne " Fiall in the Zorrous Islands," and a
little later, he and those who sailed with him, were actually successful
in capturing an important ship, forming part of the Spanish West
India fleet, richly laden with money and goods to great value. At
Graciosa, he is said to have had still greater success, but there he
was attacked, several of his men were slain, he himself wounded, and
so they turned homewcird, but the homeward voyage was not fortu-
nate, and the West Indiaman that had been captured was wrecked
off the Cornish coast and utterly lost. Food and water ran short,
but in all this tune, so Lady Anne tells us, " the Earl maintained his
own equal temper and good presence of mind, avoiding no part of
the distress that others, even the meanest seaman, endured." One of
his followers, Francis Seal, also wrote concerning him, " I would that
every man that hath no cause to the contrary would be so ready to
reward the painful soldier and seafaring man as that noble Earl of
The Father and Mother of Lady Anne. 29
Cumberland." Not satisfied by any means with the result of this
voyage, he set out again in 1591. This time the ship lent him by the
Queen was the " Garland," and he made several captures off the
coast of Portugal, but returned, as the ship was not a comfortable
one, and he did not feel easy in navigating it. Then in the next year
he sent out five ships, under the command of Captain Norton, and
this expedition was more successful, as a large richly laden vessel was
captured, but some legal trouble ensued with respect to it, and the
decision went against Lord Cumberland, to whom, however, as a
matter of special compensation. Queen Elizabeth is said to have
allotted a sum of £36,000.
At that time, he was in high favour at Court, and was in 1592 created
a Knight of the Garter. In 1593, he made a further expedition, going
out himself with nine ships to the Azores, but he was seized with
illness, and his friend, Captain Monson, who was acting as Vice-
Admiral, fearing for his Mfe, sent Lord Cumberland back to England.
The expedition was, however, exceedingly successful, and another
great West Indiaman was captured, on this occasion. Finally in
1595, Lord Cumberland determined to have a ship for himself really
suitable for his purpose, and he built a powerful vessel then called
" Malice Scourge," but afterwards known eis " The Dragon."
After one or two abortive attempts with this vessel, he sailed out
on an important expedition in January, 1597-8, plundering various
ships at the Canaries and Azores, going on to Dominica and thence
to Porto Rico, where for a while he was very successful. The Spanish
and Portuguese were, however, on the alert for him, and this ex-
pedition, from which he had to return, sooner than he had intended,
was to a great extent a failure, because, although Lord Cumberland
made a considerable gain, the cost of the expedition exceeded it.
When he came back to London, his estate was in a most unsatisfactory
condition. What with mortgages and sales and prodigality, he had
reduced it to very small proportions. The land itself he was not
able to seU, but it was heavily mortgaged, and everything that
was available in the way of the ready money of the day appears to
have been spent, so much so, that we are told that he was heavily in
debt at the time of his death, although his landed estates were so
strictly tied up that they were not seriously interfered with.
30
Lady Anne.
Some of the letters which he wrote to his wife when on these various
expeditions are in existence. In 1586, he telb her about Sir Francis
Drake having taken one of the chief towns in the Indies " cauled
Santo Domyngo," and having found in it three hundred thousand
ducats and infinite other wealth, and refers to his anxiety to do
similar work. In 1589-90, on January 5, he writes from London to
Lady Cumberland, announcing his safe arrival, passing lightly, as
was the manner of an Englishman, over the difficulties and trials of
the voyage, and sajdng that he had never, in any journey, " lost
fewer men," and was never in better health. He adds that he would
gladly come and deliver the news of his return to her himself, but
had so many men to see to that he could not any way stir from London.
Then from the " Lion " on another occasion, he writes to tell his wife
of the capture of a Dunkirk ship bound for St. Lucas in Spain, and
informs her that he had sent it to be unloaded in Portsmouth, and
that all his share in the plunder was to be sent down to his wife, that
she might do as she liked with it, and he adds that, if she finds " any-
thing fit to give the Lord Chamberlain," it would be a benefit to him
that such a presentation be made.
We have interesting proof of the way in which, during all these
various voyages he was encouraged and flattered by his Sovereign,
in the existence amongst the Appleby muniments of an important
letter from Queen Elizabeth, which is illustrated in this book.
In it the Queen says, " It may seem strange to you that we should
once vouchsafe to trouble our thoughts with any care for any person
of roguish condition (" that is to say, of wandering habits, and also,
perhaps, of amusing manner ") being always disposed rather to com-
mand others to chasten men of that profession. But such is our
pleasure," continues the Queeh, " at this time (by the opportimity
of this messenger now repairing towards you, to let you know that
we remember you) as we are well content to take occasion by our
letters to express our great desire to hear of your well-doing, whereof
we were right glad by the last reports to understand, as then we did,
hoping well of good success in the action now you have in hand.
If God do bless yourself with good and perfect health, which
we principally desire." Then, however, with that extraordinary
craft that marked the correspondence of this great Sovereign.
The Father and Mother of Lady Anne. 31
Queen Elizabeth goes on to say, " Provided always you do not
requite this our good meaning with betraying our extraordinary
care of you to our Knight Marshal here, who may, by this our partiality
to you abroad, grow bold hereafter in favouring them at home, whom
we would not have him suffer to pass uncorrected for divers their
misdemeanours. And so do we for this time (with this aforesaid
caution) " concludes the letter, " make an end, assuring you of our
most princely care for your safety, and daily wishes of your safe return,
whereof we shall be right glad as any friend you have. Dated at our
Court at Bishop's Waltham, whither we return from our progress,
where we have spent some part of this summer in viewing our forti-
fications at Portsmouth, and other our principal towns along the sea
coast." The letter is dated the 9th of September, 1591, addresses
Lord Cumberland as " Right trusty and well-beloved Cousin," and is
signed " Your very loving Sovereign, EUzabeth R."*
Unfortunately the gay attractions of the Court, the confidence ^ of
the Queen, and the romantic adventures consequent upon these
various voyages, spoiled Lord Cumberland's character, and he became
not only a spendthrift, but a gambler, and eventually a faithless
husband, so much so, that at last he and his wife had to separate, and
there are comparatively few references to him in the later pages of
his daughter's diary. In referring to the last time on which she saw
him, she says that it was " in the open air, ffor then I tooke my leave
of him on Greenwich Heath in Kent, as hee had brought mee so farre
on my way towards Sutton-in-Kentt, where my Mother then lay,
after I had bene and stayed the space of a month in the ould Howse
at Grafton in Northamptonshire, where my ffather then lived, by
reason of some unhappie unkindnesses towards my Mother. And
where hee entertayned King James and Queene Anne with Magni-
ficence. Which was a tyme of great sorrow to my Saintlyke Mother,
till I returned back againe to her from my Father, the sayd first
dale of September."
Lord Cumberland outlived his Sovereign, as he threatened to outlive
his income, and the fruits of his carelessness with regard to money
* The spelling is modernised and the frequent capital letters are omitted.
' Lord Cumberland was one of the Commissioners whom Elizabeth instructed to try Mary
Queen of Scots, and he was present at her execution.
32 Lady Anne.
affairs are still to be seen in the documents which Whitaker more
particularly examined in the muniment rooms at Skipton and at
Appleby. " He sold much land," says his daughter, " and con-
sumed his estate in continual building of ships, voyages, horse-racing.
Tilting, Shooting, Bowling Matches and all such expensive sports."
Why he actually separated from his wife cannot now be declared,
but the reason is always stated to have been a low intrigue, and
Whitaker says that there are families still in Craven who are said
to derive their origin from his amours at that time. Then, as we
have seen in the entry just quoted, he entertained with magnificence
the new king and queen, but his constitution was worn out, and a
very Mttle while afterwards he died, at the age of forty-seven.
There is, however, an important letter amongst the archives which
must be given to this very period, and which it seems probable was
written from Grafton to be sent down to his wife. It is endorsed (not
in Ladjf Anne's writing, but in that of one of her secretaries), " A very
kind letter of his Lordship, written in the tyme of great sickness,
wherein he offereth satisfaction for wrongs, comforteth her Ladyship
agaynst his death, intreateth her to thmk well of his will, and re-
questeth her to conceyve righthe off his brother, etc." The letter
which is illustrated, reads thus : —
Sweet and dear Meg,
Bear with, I pray thee, the short and unapt setting together of these
my last lines, a token of true kindness, which I protest cometh out of an
unfeigned heart of love to thee, for whose content, and to make satisfaction
for the wrongs done to thee, I have, since I saw thee, more desired to return
than for any other earthly cause, but being so low brought as that, without
God's miraculous favour, there is no great likelihood of it, I, by this, if so it
please God that I shall not in earnestness make my last requests, which, as
ever thou lovest me, lying so, I pray thee perform for me, being dead first.
In greedy earnestness I desire thee not to offend God in grieving too much at
this His disposing of me, but let thy assured hope that He hath done it for the
saving of my soul rather comfort thee, considering that we ought most to rejoice
when we see a thing, that is either for the good of our souls, or of our friends,
and^ further I beg of thee that thou wilt take, as I have meant, in kindness,
the course I have set down for the disposing of my estate, and things left
behind which truly, if I have not dealt most kindly with thee in, I am mis-
taken, and, as ever thou lovest (which I know thou hast done faithfully and
truly) sweet Meg, let either old conceit, new opinion, nor false lying tale make
The Father and Mother of Lady Anne. 33
thee fall to ht^rd opinioi^ nor suit with my brot^ier. Fqr this I protest now,
whesn I tremble to. sjieakj that which vipon any just colpur may be turne4 to a
lie thou h^st gonceived wrong of him, for his nature is sweet, and though wrong
conceit might well have urged him, yet hath he never, to my knowledge, said
or done anything to harm thee or thine, but with tears hath often bemoaned
hirnself to me that he could not devise how to, make thee conceive rightly of
him, and lastly, before the presence of God, I command thee, and in the nearest
loye of my heart I desire thee, to take great care that sweet Nan, whom God
bl,ess, may be carefully brought up in the fear of God, not to delight in worldly
V9,nities, which I too well know be the baits to draw her out of the Heavenly
Kingdom, and I pray thee, thank thy kind uncle and aunt for her and their
many kindnesses to me. Thus out of the bitter and greedy desire of a repentant
heart, begging thy pardon for any wrong that ever in my life I did thee, I com-
mend these rny requests to thy wonted and undeserved kind wifely and lovely
consideration, my body to, God's disposing, and my love to His merciful com-
iniseration.
Thine as wholly as ever man was woman's,
(Signed) George Cumberland.
TJiis most pathetic epistle bears a delightful superscription in
Lord Cumberland's own handwriting as follows : — " To my dear wife,
Countess of Cumberland, give this, of whom, from the bottom, of my
J^eart, in the presence of God, I ask forgiveness for all the wrongs I
have done her." It is clear, therefore, that whatever may have been
ys mistakes in the past, he endeavoured, as far as affection could go,
to atojie for them at the end of his Ufe. Lady Anne tells usi, in the
inscription on the great picture, that " he died penitently, -yviUingly,
and Chris tianly." In the diary, she records his death in this phrase,
sayipg that " My nouble and Brave father died in the Duchy house
by the Savoy at ^.ondon nere the River of Thames when hee was
a^out three months past fortie seven yeares ould. My Mother and I
beitig present with him at his death, I being then just fifteene yeares
arici nyne Months ould the same date. When a little before his death
Hee expressed with much affection to my mother and mee. And a
great EleHefe that hee had that his Brother's sonne would dye without
issue male, and thereby aU his Landes would come to bee myne,
which, accordingly," adds Lady Anne, " befell about thirty-eight
yeares after, ffor his Brother's son, Henereye, Earle of Cumberland,
^yed without Heires male in the Citie of York, the eleventh of Dec-
emfeer^ 1643."
P
34 Lady Anne.
It would have been well for the estates if Lord Cumberland had not
made the unfortimate will which was the subject of so much litigation
after his decease, and by which he illegally broke the entail made in
the reign of Edward II, and Lady Anne seems to imply, by this
statement, that he was beginning to regret having made it, when per-
chance there was not any time for its alteration. He was evidently
deeply attached to his brother, Francis, whom he so earnestly com-
mends in the letter to his wife, and he appears to have believed, very
likely with good reason, that the great estates of the Cliffords could
not be alienated from the male line, and must necessarily go to his
brother after his death. On the other hand, it has been suggested
that as Sir Francis Clifford, who afterwards became fourth Earl of
Cumberland, was a man of considerable property in his own right.
Lord Cumberland may have thought that perhaps, by means of his
brother's money, some of the mortgages would be cleared, and a portion
of the estate which he had so deeply involved, liberated ; but in any
case, whether for one reason or another, he left the whole of the estates
to his brother and to his successor, and by such means, kept his only
child from obtaining them for nearly thirty-eight years, during a
great part of which time her mother was lighting vahantly for them
on her behalf. Lady Anne herself confesses that it was for the love
Lord Cumberland bore to his brother and for the sake of the advance-
ment of the heirs male of his house, that he left the estates in this way.
He knew that his daughter could not succeed to his Earldom, but
did not appear to realise, nor did Lady Anne at first understand,
that the Barony of Clifford could come down to her, and that the
estates were already entailed on her. He did, however, make a definite
proviso that all his castles and lands and honours should return to
her, his only daughter and heir, if the heirs male failed, and, with a
sort of chuckle. Lady Anne records this, and adds " which they
afterwards did." In speaking of his decease, she reminds us that he
was the last heir male of the Cliffords who had rightfully enjoyed the
lands and honours which had been given to the family by King John
and by King Edward II. She says he was the seventeenth in descent
from the first Robert de Vipont that rightfully possessed the West-
morland estate, and the thirteenth from the first Robert de Clifford
that rightfully possessed the Craven estates, and goes on to make
The Father and Mother of Lady Anne. 35
clear how the lands had descended from father to son, except on two
occasions in the reign of Edward TIL, when they had gone from
brother to brother. She emphasizes in this passage and elswhere in
the diary the fact that her father w£is the last male who rightfidly
enjoyed the estates, for, to the last hour of her life she declined to
admit that her uncle and her cousin had any claim whatever upon
the property.
Lord Cumberland's will was dated April 27th, 1605, and proved at
York, 8th January, 1606, administration being granted to his brother,
Francis Earl of Cumberland, as the other executor, Robert Earl of
Sahsbury, renounced probate. He had, however, made another will
in the previous October, for, in this final one, he cancels the previous
will, and says that he had great and good reason to alter the previous
disposition of his property, seeing that his debts had become much
greater since he had made his first will. He is careful at the outset
to secure the portion to his daughter Lady Anne, £15,000, and for
that he makes over certain lands and leases, together with a very
valuable and important license which he held from the King, for the
exportation of undressed cloths, to his two executors, and to Lord
Wotton, Sir Francis Chfford, and John Taylor his servant, who were
from that estate to pay his debts, and to pay over to Lady Anne her
portion. He then goes on to leave to his wife the furniture which
was in his house at ClerkenweU. He bequeathes to Lord Salisbury
a pointed diamond ring which he was in the habit of wearing, with a
basin and ewer of silver, and three horses, to his friends Lord Wotton,
Lord Wharton, and Sir William Ingleby, the first named having his
" bald jennet," the second the gelding which he used for his own
saddle, named Grey Smithfield, and the third a gelding named Grey
Lambert.
The only other legacies are four thousand pounds each to his brother's
two daughters Margaret and Frances CUfford, and to his lawyer,
Richard Hutton,' a hundred angels, and at the conclusion of the will;
he gives most hearty thanks to God for giving him time for repentance
and to settle his estates. The important clause as to the land refers
to a previous arrangement which he had made in the 33rd year of
« Second son of Arthur Hutton of Penrith. He was, later on, Serjeant Hunter, and in 1617
knighted and made a puisne judge of the common pleas. He died z8th February, 1638-9. F,
36 Lady Anne.
Elizabeth, where by a fine he had barred his father's entail, and
settled his lands. It also referred back to a deed of settlement in the
third year of King James, and now, by this will, he confirmed all
these arrangements, settling the estate upon his brother. Sir Francis
Clifford, but declaring that after his death without male issue all wjis
to come to Lady Anne.
There is, however, an interesting statement in the will respecting
some of the lands in Cumberland, which apparently were not then in
the Earl's own hands. Whether he had mortgaged them to the
Crown is not very clear, or whether they were held by the Crown,
under some particular demand; but he says " I desire my trustees to
present this my laste requeste to my most gratious Sovereign, that
it will please his Majesty to grante unto my said brother those lands
in Cumberland for which I have bene a suitor longe unto his Majesty,
when I had noe doubte but to have prevaled, accordinge to his Majesty's
princelie word and promisse, if it had pleased God to have spared
me life."
As regards Lady Anne's mother, we have already inentioned that
the marriage was arranged when the two parties were quite children,
in fact. Lord Cumberland was not twelve years old, when his father
died, and the Earl of Bedford, knowing of the existence of this arrange-
ment, wrote to Queen Elizabeth, January 3rd, 1570, a yery respectful
letter, asking that he might be the suitor to the Queen for the wardship
of this young boy. He was fully aware of the importance of having
the young Earl of Cumberland under his control. " I beseech God,"
says he, " to send unto your Majesty a most prosperous E^nd helthful
raigne, to God's glory and your heart's desire." Queeri EUzabeth,
in granting Lord Bedford's request, speaks of him as s^ man dearly
loved by her and all her kingdom, and so it was that young Cun^berjand
was transferred to the care of his guardian, and spent thq years of his
boyhood with Lord Bedford's three daughters, Anne, Elizabeth, and
Margaret. Of the youngest, who was to be his bride, her father's
seventh and youngest child, we learn that she was born at Exeteif
on the seventh of July, 1560, her mother dying two years afterwards
qf smallpox. For some seven years, Margaret was sent away to live
with her aunt, Mrs. Elmes, at Lillford, Northamptonshire, where she
lived an open-air country life, and grew up healthy and robust.
OIL PORTRAIT OF MARGARET, COUNTESS OF CUMBERLAND,
by an unknown artist.
At Hothfield Place (see page 36).
To face page 36.
The Father and Mother of Lady Anne. 37
So happy was she that years afterwards she sent her own daughter
to the same spot to spend some of her early years, " which," says
Lady Anne, " caused this Mother and Daughter ever after to love a
Country life the better, they being both there Seasoned with the
ground of goodness and rehgion." When she was eight years old,
Margaret came back to Woburn, because her father had married a
second time, and although there is no reason to suppose that her
stepmother was not kind to her, yet it was Margaret's elder sister
Anne, who had married Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, brother to the
famous Lord Leicester, of whom she always spoke as as her tenderest
friend and protectress through life, and of whom her own daughter
afterwards wrote saying that " she was a mother in affection to her
younger brothers and sisters, and to their children, especially to the
Lady Anne CUfford " that is to say, to the person who was writing
the diary herself. Lady Warwick, for whom Lady Anne always enter-
tained the deepest affection, does, in fact, appear to have been a good
and charming woman, and never was spoken of, either in the diary, or
ino ther contemporary records, save in terms of high praise. Lady Anne
herself, in one place, tells us that Lady Warwick, who came to serve
Queen Elizabeth when very young, and served the queen when maid,
wife, and widow, almost from the beginning of her reign to her death,
was " more beloved and in greater favour with the Queen than any
other woman in the kingdom, and no less in the whole Court and the
Queen's dominions which she deserved. She was a great friend,"
continues the record, " to virtue, and a helper to many petitioners
and others in distress." A Sonnet written by Henry Constable
(1562-1613) is specially addressed to the two sisters, Margaret, Countess
of Cumberland and Anne, Cotmtess of Warwick, and speaks of these
two ladies in high terms, praising their learning and their virtue.
She was seventeen, and her husband only nineteen, when the
marriage which had been arranged for so many years took place on
June 24th, 1577. It was at St. Mary Overie's near London (now the
cathedral church of Southwark) that the ceremony was performed,
and Queen Elizabeth honoured it with her presence. It must not be
forgotten that Lord Cumberland's father had married a royal wife,
and it may have been for that reason that Queen Elizabeth decided
to be present, but the marriage was one of more than ordinary im-
38 Lady AnnC.
portance, because at the same time. Lord Cumberland's sister Lady
Frances was married to Lord Wharton, and the festivities and rejoic-
ings were for the double marriage. The bride and groom, as has
been well said, were curiously ill-suited to one another and possessed
at first of but slender means. " She was pensive and delicate, he
adventurous and fond of display." As regards her character, every-
thing proves that she was a woman of a hght heart, but of constancy
and great determination. Her daughter says even more than that
about her, and allowing for the natural affection which Lady Anne
felt for her mother, we may be quite sure that a good many of the
statements which she makes were justified by fact. " She was
naturally of a high spirit," said her daughter, " though she tempered
it by grace, having a very well favoured face, with sweet and quick
grey eyes, and of a comely personage. She was of a graceful behaviour,"
continues the daughter, " which she increased the more by being
civil and courteous to all sorts of people. She had a discerning spirit,
both in the dispositions of human creatures and natural causes, and
into the affairs of the world. She had a great, sharp, natural wit,
so as there was few things worthy of knowledge but that she had
some insight into them, for, though she had no language but her own,
there are few books of worth translated into English, but she read
them." Finally, she says that her mother was " deeply interested
in alchemy, and she found out many excellent medicines that did
good to many people, and that she distilled waters and chemical
extractions, delighting in the work, for she had a good deal of know-
ledge of minerals, of herbs, of flowers, and of plants." In later days
" the chief est of all her worldly desires and the idea of her heart was
that her Daughter should inherit the Landes." " Her Spirit," adds
Lady Anne, " never yielded to ill fortune or opposition."
It is pleasant to know that, despite all the indifference, prodigality,
and folly of her talented husband, and the fact that for a few years
she had to hve away from him, they were able to return to one another
at the last, and that his wife and his little girl were there present at
his decease, while the death of her father seems to have made a great
impression upon the child. May we not trace part of this happy
issue to the pathetic wording of the letter which Lord Cumberland
sent so shortly before his death to the wife whom it is evident he
The Father and Mother of Lady Anne. 39
loved all his life, and who was always to him his " sweet and dear
Meg."
Lady Cumberland's will was dated April 27th, 1616, and commences
with the ordinary reUgious phraseology, which is, in her case, rather
fuller than usual, and in which she clearly states that at that time
she was very ill. She desires that her debts may be paid, and she
says that they had grown without any fault in her, partly through
the want of the means which her late lord should have paid her, and
that by special order and commandment both from the king and queen
and partly because of the necessary charges in law that she had sus-
tained for the preservation of her daughter's inheritance and her
own jointure, but she is most definite that these debts are all to be
paid first, to the full contentment of her creditors. She then goes
on to refer to the almshouse she had commenced, which was to
be completed, and she leaves her nephews the Earl of Bedford and
Lord Russell as the trustees for all her land, which she bequeathes
to her daughter, with remainder to Lady Margaret her granddaughter,
then to Lord Fitzwarren' and his heirs, then to her nephew Lord
Francis Russell and his heirs, and then to whoever may be her heirs
at the time. In respect to her jointure lands, she has an interesting
clause, showing the kindly feeling which she exercised towards her
tenants. " If I shall happen shortly to depart this lyfe," she says,
" my tenants wiU be driven to fine again, and that, happilye before
they have recovered their charge sustained that way. If I dye within
a year," she adds, " they are to have a third of their fine spaired them,
and if within two years, having received their whole fines, a third
is to be given back." She directs that her good friend Sir Christopher
Pickering® should take command over aU her servants and her estab-
lishment, and he was to have under his control the safe keeping of her
goods, and she arranges that, if she dies in Westmorland, her body
may be buried in the parish church where her brother, Francis Lord
RusseU, had already been interred. To that part of the wiU, she
makes a special codicil, adding that, as her brother, Francis Lord
RusseU, was buried at Alnwick in Northumberland, she agrees that
' Sir Edward Bourcbier, K.B, Afterwards Earl of Bath. His mother was Elizabeth
daughter of Francis, Earl of Bedford.
• Knighted July 5th, 1607. He had a " bastard daughter," who married John Dudley, M.P.
for Carlisle in 1601. — ^F.
40 Lady Anne.
ske should be iDuried wherever her " deat and hobl'e soi'e dau^ter a,nd
heire " Anne Countess of Dorset, should think fit. To the 'Mil,
however, is appended a very long schedule, in which It would appear
that she mentions almost all her friends, leaving to each of therii
some interesting bequest as a memorial of her. Lord Shrewsbury
receives a gilt bowl, and his wife a ring with seven diiihonds, the Earl
of Bedford a cabinet with drawers, and his wife a satin cahojiy, eiii-
broidered, with the stool belonging to it, her nephew, Lofd Fitzwa,rreh,
is to receive her best horse, or else £20, her niece, Lady Herbert, "Du
Plessis" [PhiUppe de Momay, 1549-1623] a book oh the Sacrament of
the Mass, and her son John a gilt porringer with a cover. Lady
Howard of Effingham is to have a ring with five diamonds. Lady Hast-
ings a dozen of pearl buttons with true lover's knots on them, and
Lady Barrowghes a dozen of the same, while Lady Bowes^ gets a dozen
buttons set in garnets. Lord Francis Russell, her nephexvj was to
receive a gold ring with five diamonds, and his Wife a jewel V?ith
three pearls, while to both Of them joiiltly SVere to be giVeh tWb pieces
of cloth of gold, embroidered with great peatls and sefed pearis.
Lady Chandoues was to have a case of glasses with silVer to^s.
Lady Dudley a colt and two horses, and her daughter, ^io. ]fc.
Henry Vincent, who w£is connected witk the estate, was to haVe
three of the lesser silver dishes. Dr. Layfield^" two greatef isilVer
(iishes, and Mr. Oldworth, her lawyer, a basiti and ew6r, and
ills wife a silver bowl, Sir Philip Tyrvdtt half a dozeh silver
plates, his wife a cloth of gold mantle, and their daug;liler " Mrs.
Matte," a ring with four little diaihohds. Her ?;ousin, Slizafeeth
Apsley, was to have a petticoat of cloth of silver, errlbfoidered \Vitii
hops, another cousin. Hall, a bowl worth £6, ifi'd his wife A velvet
gown. Sir Edward Yorke was to hive £16, and his wif6 a length 'Of
cloth of gold, a Mr. and Mrs. Cole were given two cabinets of 'glass,
kr. Shute, a preacher, a Bible, and her worthy friend Sb Christopher
Pickeiring, who has already been mentioned, her best gilt chp. Then
follow the legacies to her servants. One was left a silk grbsgfalh
» Perhaps Margaret, third wife of Sir Francis Bowes of Thornton, and daughter of Robert
Mavil.— F.
1" John Layfield, D.D., Scholar of Trin. Coll., Cam., 1578, and Felldw 15855 Reader in 'Greek,
1593; 5le'ctor of St. eietilents Dan-eS, ieoi, till his decease. He was on* of tie tevfeersof the
Bible in 1601.
The Father aniJ MdiflEft br Lady Anne. 4i
gown aM £lo, ahothet, £ib, aM jl Ihitd |Sd-. A neighbttU!-, Iltrs.
t'rackenthorpe, SvAs to haVe two gold ebiiis of king James {" tWo
Jacobus piectes in gold "], ail'other sfeirvaht was to reeelVb ohe of hfei:
best miires and her foal, and her taiAnaget tVvo fieees ot lapeslfy,
r&pres'etitiiig the story of Deborah.
With the idea that her body Was to be bUiifed in NofthumMrland,
she bequeathed £6 13s. 4d. to the poor of that pMiJ^, and the same
amount to the poor in Brougham and the poor in Appleby. She
also declared that threescore ]p66f men and women were to have
presented to them for her funeral a gown each, finally, %he
implies that the parson of iBroughiih has, oh her account, got into
sonie trouble, for she said " t desire my honourable daughter to
respecte, favor and coimtenance Mt. Bradley, parson of firoughaih,
that he sustain noe wfonge as she should doe for rhyselfe seeihge he
hath many eniihies for my sake, and will find opportunities for speaking
the truth." It seerhs to be possible from an indirect reference to this
man in another place that he was one of the persons who took her
side, in an action she brought against some difficult tenants, aaid
perhaps, therefore, for that reason, he had got into some local trouble.
Lady Cumberland had made a previous wiU on the i8th of December,
1613, and this will is still to be found in the Appleby muniment room.
In that she says that she was to be buried near to wherever she died
and she makes some strong statements about the executors of her
husband, because they had left a great part of her jointure unpaid,
and that therefore, to her annoyance, she had to incur serious debts
in Westmorland.
The finest portrait of Lady Cumberland is the full length oiie which
now hangs at Hothfield Place, and which came origiaally from the
North. It is, in all probability, the very portrait which himg in
Lady Anne's room in Brougham Castle, and to which she alludes.
There is another excellent portrait of Lady Cumberland, also at
Hothfield, an oval one, head and shoulders only, which came from
Skipton Castle, and the costume, which is adorned with ivy leaves,
and is of an unusually rich character, is very much the same in eadi
of the two portraits. It is not knoWn who is responsible for either
of them, but the full-length must have been painted by an artist of
the first rank. It is a skilful representation of a remarkable personage.
Both have been specially photographed for these pages.
42 Lady Anne.
At Bill HiD, Wokingham, the seat of Mrs. Leveson-Gower, is a
replica or a copy of the oval portrait, also quite an important one of
Margaret's husband, the Earl of Cumberland, a fine strong piece of
work ; and a portrait of Lady Anne, resembling one of those at Appleby.
These have descended from Lady Mary, the last surviving daughter
of Thomas the sixth Earl of Thanet, who, as her second husband,
married John, Earl Gower.
While these pages have been passing through the press an interest-
ing letter has been discovered at Althorp amongst the family papers
belonging to Earl Spencer, K.G., addressed to a certain Mr. Henry
Arthington, from Wakefield, to Lord Cumberland, on the last day of
August, 1602, and conveying a present of some citron, orcinges and
lemons to Lord Cumberland, and in return asking for a buck from his
forest. As the letter possesses some quaint interest of its own, it has
been thought well to insert it at this place. It reads thus :
The Lorde direct and prosper ) ,
, • „ i- r I Amen,
your honor in all your wayes )
My moste honorable good Lorde, havinge bene Lately at London, To take
further order with my Creditors (for Mr. Saviles dett,) and meetinge ther &c.
with such Noveltis as weare fitt for noble personages I thought it no Less then
my bounden dutie to present your Lo: with part (or rather the principal!
therof vidz : A Lardge pounde Citeron, Two fayxe oringes and half e a dosen
Limmons the best I coulde gett : humblie intreatinge your good Lo : to accept
of them, as an excuse for not cominge myselfe to see your honor : beinge so
weared with my Long Jorney, As I am not well able to travell further. Your
best beloved Lady and sole daughter, weare both in health, when I came from
London ; And so I take my leave of your Lordshipe with humble request, that
your Lordshipe would bestowe a bucke of me (for my fathers sake) to make
mery with my Neybors, now at my returene. So shall I have greater cawse
(As I have much alredy) To pray for the noble Earle of Cuberlande whos Lyfe,
God prolonge w*" much increase of honor, Wakefield this Last day of Augustei
1602.
Your Right honorable Lordships in all duetifulness
Henry Arthington.
If Mr. farrand deceased, had bene capable of his speach when I last see him
I had delt w* him for the ould matter.
Endorsed — To the Right honoraWe the Earle of Cumberlande his singular
good Lorde. This &c.
43
CHAPTER IV.
THE TWO LITTLE BOYS.
WHEN Lord and Lady Cumberland were married, they went
off at once to Skipton Castle, where, at that time, Anne
Dacre, Dowager Countess, was residing,^ and for the first
few years of their married life, they lived in that place, paying, at
intervals, some short visits to Brougham Castle, Wharton HaU, or to
Buxton. The yoimg Lady Cumberland soon became very poptilar
with her neighbours. " She was dearly loved by all worthy and good
folk," sajre Lady Anne, and she was a favourite with the Dowager
Countess who " had a high estimation of her goodness." Her health,
however, was not satisfactory, perhaps owing to the extreme cold of
Yorkshire and Westmoreland, and gradually "she grew extreme sickly
and discontented, and soe continued for five or six yeares together,
till at last she fell into a kind of consumption soe as many thought
she would never have had any children." The joume}^ to Buxton
occurred at more frequent intervals, and apparently the restorative
air of that place worked wonders. She gradually got much better,
and then ensued the happy time between her and her husband, which
lasted down till about 1602, and most of the letters which we possess,
and from which we have hitherto quoted, relate to that period, although
some of them are of a later date. " After this tedious tyme of sickness
was past," says Lady Anne, " it pleased God to bless this virtuous
lady with the extreme love and affection of her husband, which lasted
about nyne or tenne years towards her, and but little more." During
this time, her two little boys were born, about whom the sister writes
in agreeable fashion.
The elder, Francis, was bom at Skipton in 1584, his father being
^ There is a tapestry covered chair still at Skipton with her arms embroidered upon it.
44
Lady Anne.
at that time in the Castle, and there it was that he died, at the age
of five years and eight months, when he was buried in the vault of
SMpton Church, amongst many of his ancestors. His tomb is still
to be seen, and is illustrated in this book, although, curiously enough,
the original inscription on it stated that he was of the age of six years
and eight months when he died. Whereas Lady Anne, both in her
diary and in the inscription on her picture, declares that his age was
only five years and feight months. That on the brass declared him
to be " an infant of most rare towardness in all the appearances that
might promise wisdom and magnanimity," but the actual brass
containmg this inscription, and a long Latin verse and the wrong
age was stolen from the tomb some years ago, and was replaced later
on by another smaller and simpler brass, which declares that he died
about the nth of December, 1589, being of the age of five years and
eight months.
Lady Aime, in her account of him, speaks tlius " He was a child
that promised as much goodnesse as could possibly bee in such tender
years* and was even mlling to depart out of this world to his Maker,"
and again " he was admired by aU those who knew him for his goodness
and devotion even to wonder considering his childish yeares." When
he died, she says that his father. Lord Cumberland, was away, and
bis mother had to bear the burden of his loss all by herself, while the
inscription on the picture adds to this statement that the " sayd
Father was then beyond the seas in Munster in Ireland, wheather he
was driven on land by extremity of tempest and great hazard of fife,
10 days before the death of his sayd sonne when that Earle was then
on his returne from the He Azores in the West Indies."
The other boy, Roberty was born at North Hall in Hertfordshire
where Lord and Lady Cumberland were staying at the time. His
birth occurred • on the 21st September, 1585, and by the death
of his elder brother. Lord Francis, he came to be Lord Clifford in 1589,
but, as Lady Anne tells us in pathetic language, " as theare was neere
a year and six moneths betweene theire births, soe was theare neere
a yeare and six moneths betweene theire deaths." They both, as it
happened, died when they came to the age of five years and eight
months, and each in the same house in which he had been born.
Htet record of -Robert says that he was " a child of a rare witt ^nd
The Two I-ittxe Boys. 45
spirritt, ^nd of a very sweete nature, and ha,d m?iny affection? Ir him
far above his years, which made his loss farre more bitter to his
parents, especially to hiss deare mother, who mourned most bitterly
for him while shee lived, though she died not, as she expectedj till
on that day five and twenty years after his death." To his decease
Lady Anne also alludes in her diary, saying " When I Vf&s ahont a
year and fower months ould, died my second Brother Robert, then
Lord Clifford, in North hall in Hartfordshire th§ fower and twentieth
of May in one thowsand five hundred and nynetie-one," while in the
inscription on the great picture she goes on further to state " He was
a child endowed with many perfections of nature for so few years,
and likely to have made a gallant man. His sorrowful Mother and
hir then little daughter and onely child, the Lady Anne, was in the
house at Northall when he died, which Lady Anne Clifford was then,
but a yeare and 4 moneths old, whoe by the death of hir said brother
Lord Robert CUfford, came to be sole heire to both hir Parents,"
In this instance also Lady Cumberland had to bear her burden alone,
because her husband at the time of Lord Robert's death was on one.
of his voyages over the seas towards Spain and the West Indies.
She had also been plunged in grief on the occasion of his birth, for he
was born just at the moment when she had lost id one day her father
and brother, and the earldom of Bedford had passed away to her
nephew.
In the record concerning the two children. Lady Anne tells us that,
according to the curious custom of the day, some of the " inward
parts " of her brother's body were buried in the church at North Hall
where he died, but the body itself was taken to Chenies in Bucking-
hamshire, and there laid amongst his mother's ancestors. The record
of the little boy's burial there is still to be found, but there has never
been, so far as we know, any tomb erected to his memory.
Lady Anne then goes on in the conclusion of her sentence to tell
us about her own birth, and is particular to state that by birthright,
being the only surviving child of her parents, she was " Baroness
Clifford, Westmoreland and Vescy, High Sheriffess of that county,
Lady of the Honour of Skipton-in-Craven, of whom more shall be
said hereafter in the records of her time."
The deep affection which she states existed between her father
46 Lady Akne.
and mother, and which lasted for ten years, had been broken off, as
has been seen in the last chapter, in about 1603, when husband and
wife were no longer on speaking terms, but it is quite clear from some
of the letters, dated many years afterwards, that at least some measure
of affection was kept up, and it is certain from the long letter already
quoted that towards the end of his life Lord Cumberland repented
of what he had done to his wife, made it up with her, so that she and
her little girl were both present when he died.
While the two brothers were living, and when the younger one
seemed to be growing weaker day by day, their mother, according to
Lady Anne, " had a strange kind of Divinittg Dream or Vision, which
appeared to her in a fearful manner in Barden Tower." It told her
that her two boys should pass away, that her expected child should
be a daughter, should live to be her only child, and should inherit
all the vast estates of her ancestors. Lady Cumberland is said to have
dwelt much on this vision at the time when her daughter's rights
were being severely contested, and when there seemed to be little
chance of her winning the day. Lady Anne, in referring to it, says
of her mother, " Undoubtedly while she lived here in this world,
her spirit had more conversation with Heaven and heavenly con-
templations than with terrene and earthly matters,"
47
CHAPTER V.
THE TWO LAST EARLS OF CUMBERLAND,
ON the death of Lady Anne's father, the title passed to his brother,
and with it, by his unfortunate will, the greater part of the
estates, the Appleby and Brougham property alone con-
tinuing in the possession of Lady Cumberland, as it formed her
jointure. Lady Anne tells us that the explanation, as far as she
understood it, was that her father, for " the love hee bare to his
Brother, and the Advancement of the heires male of his howse," left
to his brother Francis, who succeeded him in his Earldom of Cumber-
land, and to his heirs male, " all his Castles, Landes and honors,"
with the proviso that they were to return to her if he died without
heirs male. Before we deal with the ensuing contest concerning
the estates, which commenced during the time of Lady Anne's
first marriage, it would be well to give some reference to her uncle,
who now became fourth Earl of Cumberland, and to his son Henry,
who succeeded him. She herself gives us some information in her
great volume of records, but, true to her determined feeling that he
had no right to the estates, she deals with the career of uncle and
nephew in a very different fashion from the way in which she has re-
corded information concerning other of her ancestors and relations,
and particularly notes that all which she says about Francis, fourth
Earl and his son, is "by way of digression," and that her statements
do not follow on in natural sequence from what has preceded them.
She always regarded them as interlopers, and lost no opportunity of
making this perfectly clear. She tells us that he (Francis) was bom
in Skipton Castle in October 1559, and that he was forty-five years
old when he came, by the death of his elder brother, to be fourth Earl.
She goes on to set down that he was knighted when very young by
48 Lady Anne.
Queen EHzabeth, and by King James installed as a Knight of the
Bath at the same time as that monarch's son Charles was created
Duke of York, and that this ceremony took place in the hall at White-
hall. He married, she says, " Mistress Grizzill Hughes," the daughter
of Mr. Thomas Hughes of Uxbridge in Middlesex, who was widow of
Edward Nevill, Lord Abergavenny, and by her he had four children.
The eldest, George, was born at Uxbridge and died before he was a
year old, in his mother's jointure house in Somersetshire, left to her
by her first husband. Henry, the second child, was born at Londes-
borough in Yorkshire in 1592, and he hved to be fifth Earl of Cimiber-
land, but left no male issue. Margaret, the third child, was also bom
at Londesborough in 1594. She married, after her father became
Earl of Cumberland; Sir Thomas Wentworth, who, many years after
her decease, was created Earl of Strafford, and was beheaded on
Tower Hill in London, on May 12th, 1641. His wife had predeceased
him, dying at the great house at Stepney, she tells us, of " a burning
fever," leaving no children behind her. Her husband married
again, and by his second wife had a son who eventually succeeded
him as Earl of Strafford. The fourth child was Frances, bom in
1596, also in Londesborough, and she married, after the death of her
mother in Skipton Castle, Sir Gervase Clifton, as his second wife,
and by him had a son called Clifford, and many daughters. Lady
Anne says that she was a " very witty and a very good woman."
This Sir Gervase Clifton, one of the first Baronets, was a remarkable
man as regards his family life. He had no fewer than seven wives,
and married the seventh when he was seventy years old. His first
wife was Penelope, the daughter of the first Earl of Warwick, and by
her he had a son who succeeded him, also named Gervase, who died
in 1613. His second wife we have just referred to, and besides his
son by her. Sir Clifford Clifton, he had, as Lady Anne tells us, " divers
daughters," but the names of only two of them, Anne and Lettice,
are recorded, and therefore, in all probability, they were the only two
who grew up. His third wife was a widow, Mary Egioke (Lady Leke),
his fourth also a widow, Isabel Meek (Mrs. Hodges), and his fifth was
Anne, daughter of Sir F. South ; all these died without issue in the
years 1630, 1637, and 1639, respectively. His sixth wife was Jane
Elyre, who had at least four children, Robert, James, Elizabeth and
The Two Last Earls of Cumberland. 49
Mary, and died in 1655, and then his seventh wife was AlicCj the
elder daughter of Henry, fifth Earl of Huntingdon. She outlived
him, and this much-married baronet died himself in 1666 at the age
of eighty.
With regard to Lord Cumberland's wife, Lady Anne speaks thus,
" This Grizzel Hughes, Lady of Abergavenny, lived Countess of
Cumberland seven years, seven months, and sixteen days, and when
that time was expired, died at her husband's house at Lonsborrow in
Yorkshire, and was buried in the church there. She was a prudent
and a wise lady. It is to be noted, though she lived so many years
Countess of Cumberland, yet was she never in Skipton Castle in Craven,
nor in Westmoreland, for she loved peace, and the great suits-at-law
that were between her husband and his sister-in-law, Margaret,
Coimtess Dowager of Cumberland, for the maintenance of the right
of her only daughter, made her unwilling to come into either of those
places whUe they were in controversy." Then, with regard to the
husband, Lady Anne tells us that he was never out of England, and
he was evidently a quiet, serious old gentleman,^ a complete contrast
in every way to his brother. He does not appear to have done any-
thing of extraordinary importance throughout his entire Hfe, but to
have carried out the duties of a large landowner in a quiet and satis-
factory fashion, whUe it is implied that out of his own means he
liberated some of the lands from the burdens there were upon them.
He lived to the age of eighty-two, and then died at Skipton, in the
very same room in which he had been bom. His only son was absent
on the occasion of his death, but his daughter-in-law was there, and
appears to have attended the funeral in Skipton, when he was
buried in the great famUy vault under the church. Lady Anne was
at that time at her first husband's house at Ramsbury in Wiltshire,
and she records the fact of her uncle's death in these words, " The one
and twentieth of Januarie one thousand six hundred and fortie-one,
died my Unckle Francis, Earle of Cumberland, when hee was nere
fowerscore and two yeares ould and his onelie Child Henerie
Lord Clifford, who succeeded him in the Earldome lived but two
1 Not always however ! See an entry in his household books, 1618. " Paid for a pair of carna-
tion silk stockings and a pair of ash coloured taffeta garters and roses edged with silver lace
given by my lord to Mrs. Douglas Sheffield she drawing my lord for her Valentine, £3 los. od."
5
50 Lady Anne.
years tenne moneths and some twenty dayes after him." In the
record concerning the uncle and nephew she says " This Earl Francis ^
was an honourable gentleman, and of a good, noble, sweet and courteous
nature."
He was succeeded by his son Henry, who was evidently a person of
quite different disposition, because Lady Anne says that for twenty
years before Francis, Earl of Cumberland, died " His son Henry,
Lord Clifford, did absolutely govern both him and estate," but she
gleefully repeats the fact that he only lived a little more than two
years after his father's death. Henry, last Earl of Cumberland,
married in Kensington House, Lady Frances Cecil, daughter to
Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, Lord High Treasurer of England,
and " the greatest man of power then in the Kingdom." The peace
which had reigned to a certain extent during the time of his father
was quickly broken by the son. His marriage, she says, was pur-
posely made for maintaining his suits of law more powerfully than
ever, for the fifth Earl was evidently dissatisfied, during the last few
years of his father's life, with the way in which the lawsuits were
being managed, and was determined to force the matter to a bitter
issue, endeavouring to make some arrangement by which he could
bequeath the estates to his own daughter. His family consisted of
five, three sons and two daughters, but all died young, except the
elder daughter, Elizabeth, who was born at Skipton, and who married
Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork. She was the sole daughter and heir
to her parents. Of Henry Clifford, Lady Anne sa37s " Hee was
endowed with a good natural Wit. Hee was also a tall and proper
Man, a good Courtier, a brave horseman, an excellent Huntsman,
and well skilled in architecture and mathematics," adding that he
was much favoured, both by King James and King Charles. He had
travelled for some years in France, and appears from what Lady Anne
says, to have been well acquainted with the French language. In
conjunction with his father, he entertained the King at Brougham in
1617 in magnificent fashion, when James returned from his last
journey out of Scotland, and stayed two nights together at Brougham
* He was Governor of York Castle for Charles I. and built what is still known as Clifford's
Tower, and put the Castle into a state of defence at the beginning of the Civil wars. Over
the portal of the Tower can be seen the Clifford Arms.
The Two Last Earls of Cdmberland. 51
Castle, sleeping in the room, Lady Anne tells us, where her mother,
Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, had died the previous May, and
where the third Earl had been bom.
Edward Lord Wotton, elder brother of Sir Henry Wotton, was one
of the executors of the will of George, Earl of Cumberland, and well
acquainted with all the affairs of the family. He wrote a charming
letter to Henry the last Earl of Cumberland, condoling with him on
the death of his infant son, a death which Lord Clifford felt keenly,*
inasmuch as the continuance of the estates in his line depended upon
his male issue. The letter was written before he succeeded his father
in the Earldom and when he was still Lord Clifford. It reads thus —
Honourable Lord,
How sorrowful we were for the doleful news your Lordship may truly guess
by our love to your house. We may not repine at God's doings, who doeth
everything for the best, though to flesh and blood sometimes, through weakness;
it may seem otherwise. Be of good comfort, sweet Lord, and let wisdom work
that effect in you which length of time doth in all, I mean diminution of grief,
so shall the time of your Lady's greatness be the less irksome to her, and I
doubt not, will bring comfort to you and your house by bringing you many sons.
Of this no more. One thing I wish, that my Lord your father would now take
occasion to lessen his expenses of housekeeping, whereof, as your Lordship
knoweth, there is some need, and that your Lordship in your sports will draw
as little company as you may, wherein you shall both keep decorum and ease
your charges.
So, wishing to my Lord your father, yourself and your Lady the comfort
which this world can afford, and I rest your Lordship's to do you service,
E. Wotton.
Quite unexpectedly, in 1643, the last Earl of Cumberland died of a
burning fever in one of the Prebend's houses in York. His body was
brought to Skipton to be buried, and Lady Anne strives to point out,
as a sort of moral to the lesson she was never tired of reiterating,
that this uncle and nephew had no right to the estates ; that, in her
opinion, there was considerable difficulty in burying the last Earl in
the vault, and that there was no more room in that vault, but only
8 The tomb recording the death of Henry Earl of Cumberland's three infant sons bears a
touching inscription marking the father's deep anguish at the loss of his boys. IMMENSI
DOLORIS MONVMENTVM AVGVSTVM HENRICVS PATER DEFLET FRANCIS CVM
CAROLVM HENRICVM MDCXXXI.
52
Lady Anne.
just enough to receive him. In another place in her diary, she says
that she did not think that he could have been buried in there, because
there was so little room. It would almost appear that she would
have been better pleased if she had heard that the body of the usurper
did not lie with his ancestors. The burial did, however, take place
in Skipton, and we are inclined to think that Lady Anne exaggerated
the difficulties, for Dr. Whitaker, who examined the vault some
years afterwards said that he was quite sure that there had not only
been plenty of room to bury the last Earl there, but there was still
space for other burials, if it was ever desirable that they should take
place.
His wife Frances, Countess of Cumberland, survived him but two
months and four or five days, and then she died in the same house in
York as did her husband. Her body was not taken to Skipton, for she
was buried in York Cathedral. " She was a lady," so says the diarist,
" of a noble and rich mind, very bountiful to the poor, kind and loving
to her friends and kindred," but of her husband. Lady Anne cannot
refrain from saying, " by the death of this Cozen German of myne,
Henerie Clifford, Earle of Cumberland, without heires male, the Landes
of m5me Inheritance in Craven and Westmorland, returned unto mee
without Question or Controversy, after that his father, Francis, Earl of
Cumberland and this Earle Henerie, his sonne.hadunjusthe detayned
from mee the auntient Landes in Craven from the Death of my ffather,
and the Landes in Westmorland from the death of my Mother, tiU
this time, yet," she adds, " had I little or no profitt from that estate
for some yeares after, by reason of them, and of the CiviU Wars."
As a rule. Lady Anne was scrupulously fair in the remarks she made
concerning the character of her relatives, but in this particular in-
stance, she does indulge in a httle vindictive feeUng, natural, perhaps,
when it is remembered how long she waited for the estates, and how
earnestly she had contested the rights of her uncle and cousin to them.
In other places she speaks more kindly of this cousin, who undoubtedly
had complete legal warrant for all that he did. He does not appear
to have been a man of any marked individuality, but conscientious,
strict, and most particular concerning all his rights. He was, it is
clear, much attached to his wife and to his daughters, and if by legal
method, he could have altered the devolution of the estates, so that
The Two Last Earls of Cumberland. 53
he could have bequeathed them to Lady Cork, lie would have done so.
His suit, that he himself put in hand, during the last few years of his
father's life, was entirely with that object. He tried to make a claim
that, as he had succeeded to the estates as Earl of Cumberland, he
had the right to deal with them as he would, and that the clause in
his uncle's will, saying that they were to revert to Lady Anne in the
case of the failure of male heirs, was an unjust one and could not be
sustained. Fortunately for her, however, the courts dismissed his
action, and probably the steps the Earl took to turn away part of her
inheritance from her were the cause of her vindictive remarks.
The only other fact that we have regarding Henry, last Earl of
Cumberland, was that after his decease, a small book was published,
entitled " Poetical Translations of some Psalms and the Song of
Solomon, by that noble and religious soul, now sainted in Heaven,
Henry Earl of Cumberland." It is beUeved that the publication of
his book was due to the affection for his memory sustained by his
only daughter.
An interesting document is still in existence relative to his funeral,
in which are detailed certain of the expenses. York Minster bell
was rung at the time of his decease, and 28/- was paid to the verger
for ringing it, while considerable expense was incurred for black
velvet and black cloth for the servants who took the body from York,
and for fitting up a kind of mortuary coach in which it was forwarded
to Skipton, over £100 being charged for these items alone. In addition
to that, there was a charge of nearly £40 for black velvet to make a
pall to cover the corpse ; the surgeon had £10 for embalming, and
the heraldic painter £6 for painting the hatchment. Special expenses
were incurred in altering the coach in order that it might carry the
cofi&n, and four stones' weight of tow was bought to put between the
cof&n and the chariot to keep it from shaking. The physician who
attended Lord Cumberland was an Italian from Padua, then residing
in England, and he had £5 for his attendance. About £28 was spent
in the journey between York and Skipton for the servants' meals,
for the fodder, for fees given to the soldiers by the way, both foot and
horse, who guarded the corpse, and for the disbursements, according
to custom, to the poor of every parish through which it passed, and
then, on arrival at Skipton, £10 was distributed amongst the soldiers
and the gunners of the garrison.
54
Lady AnnS.
To this document there is attached another one, regarding certain
fees that had been paid for Henry, Earl of Cumberland, when he took
his seat as an Earl in the House of Lords. The Usher of the Black
Rod had £4 los., the upper clerk the same. The Yeoman Usher
had 26/-, and his clerk had 20/-. There are also recorded the expenses
for his journey to the Tower, when he went to take leave of Lord
Strafford the day before he was executed. He had already been
present in the House at the time of the sentence, and there are fees
noted down which he gave to the door keepers on these occasions.
His cousin, Sir Gervase Qifton, seems to have gone with him to bid
farewell to Lord Strafford, and the charges are duly recorded, not
only for the boat hire to and fro, but also for wine for himself and
Sir Gervase, and beer for the servants.
Lady Cumberland's journey from Londesborough to London just
before she died, was recorded as costing £68 i8s. 4d., being for a journey
of eleven days with thirty-two horses.
Lord Clarendon declared that this last Earl was a man of great
honour and integrity, and said that he lived amongst his neighbours
with very much acceptation and affection. He also mentions that
he was a particularly firm and resolute man, and hence ensued some
of the difficulties with regard to the estates.
The Earl's coffin was examined by Dr. Whitaker when he inspected
the CUfford vault. He teUs us that it contained the ordinary skeleton
of a tall man, while near by lay that of his father. Earl Francis, which
was of unusual length, and who, it was clear, had been a man of
extraordinarily great stature.
An interesting book of accounts has been discovered at Skipton,
which gives information concerning the number of guests who dined
day by day at my Lord's table during the time that Francis, Earl of
Cumberland was ruling in Craven, and it also records the prices paid
for some of the items of the food. On many occasions the party sat
down to table thirty to thirty-five in number, and the food provided
was on a very lavish scale. It included sufficient provision for at
least seventeen servants, a large proportion of whom seem to have
waited at table. Not very much is said about meat, beef is hardly
mentioned, and perhaps it was not purchased from anyone in the
neighbourhood, but came in from the estate, and therefore it was not
The Two Last Earls of Cumberland. 55
thought necessary to record it. There are, however, very frequent
references to wild fowl, widgeon, mallards, and teal. Large quantities
of ducks, pigeons, partridges, and rabbits appear in the pantry lists, and
in the way of fish there are references to what is specifically called
" sea-fish," and there are also frequent allusions to ling, turbot, cod,
lamprey, as well as to eels. " Calf-meat " is referred to, calves' feet
and heads, goatflesh and pullets, and at almost every dinner there
are a number of apple tarts mentioned. In one part of the book there
are references to the fact that one tenant on the estate held his farm
by virtue of providing sufficient apples throughout the whole of the
year for the tarts for my Lord's table, and if the accounts are at all
accurate, he must have had to provide a large quantity of apples,
for it was no uncommon thing to read of ten or twelve apple tarts
being on the table at one time. Not much is said about vegetables,
cabbages and gherkins being the only ones specifically mentioned.
Amongst the sweets, are tarts, pastries, custards, puddings, pies, and
made dishes, and there are many allusions to pasties, both of venison
and of game.
Of liquids, we have references to ale and old ale ; and to beer and
strong beer; tansey, currant wine, and sack posset, and to French
claret which cost 3/- a barrel. Salt, by the way, Wcis one of the most
expensive items for the table.
There are a few references to tobacco, on one occasion it is said
that it cost IS. 46.. for " a very little."
The accounts are kept in systematic way, and on some pages are
averaged against the number of persons present, so as to show what
proportion of food was consumed by each. If the reckonings were
anything like correct, the consumption of food at these dinners must
have been enormous. There are also special references to the food
consumed at the stables, and for the rougher servants, who appear
to have been given oaten bread, instead of " good bread," the latter
being provided for the guests at my Lord's table. A great deal of
oil appears to have been used, there are constant references to it in
the accounts, and to hundreds of eggs. Many of the tenants had to
send in day by day two or three score of eggs to the castle as part of
their rental.
56
CHAPTER VI.
THE EARLY DAYS OF LADY ANNE.
FOR the story of Lady Anne, we must rely mainly upon her
own diary and records, but with regard to her early years,
these can be supplemented by other documents, mainly from
a book of accounts to which Whitaker refers, and from a lost diary,
a copy of which is now in the Library at Knole. A part of it only
has been quoted, more or less incorrectly, by Seward.^ Lady Anne
herself, with a frankness characteristic of the period in which she
lived, starts her own diary a Uttle before her birth, giving us special
information that she can only have derived from her mother, and
then she goes on to tell us that she was born on the 30th of January
in 1589, " when my blessed mother brought me forth, in one of my
father's chief houses, called Skipton Castle in Craven." It was at
the time that Lord Cumberland was absent on one of his voyages,
" being in great perrill at Sea," she says, and Lady Cumberland, with
her two little boys, had come down to Skipton. Quaintly Lady Anne
adds with respect to her father, that " it was tenne thowsand to one
but hee had bene cast away from the Seas by Tempeste and Contrarie
wynds. Yet it pleased God to preserve him, soe as hee lived to see
my Birth, and a good while after, ffor I was fifteen yeares and nyne
months ould when hee dyed." She was christened at Skipton church,
on the 22nd day of February, 1590, by the name of Anne, Lady Derby
and Lady Warwick being her Godmothers, and Lord Wharton, her
aunt's husband, her godfather. He was present in person, but for
her godmothers she tells us, the deputies were " Mrs. Mary Percy,
wife to SHngsby of Scriven, sister to the Earl of Northumberland
and Mrs. Tempest of Bracewell." 2 By this time her father was in
1 Seward's Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons, 1793, vol. I.
2 Anne, daughter of Bartholomew Pigott of Asten Rowan, Oxfordshire, wife to Robert
Tempest (living in 1585 or 1600) of Bracewell and of Boiling and Waddington.
The Early Days of Lady Anne. 57
England, but not at Skipton. He had landed on the 29th of December ;
before she was bom, but she says, " by reason of his great Buiseness
of giveing account to the Queen of his Sea Voyages " he could not
come down, and was staying at Bedford House in the Strand, where,
as it happened, Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, husband to her mother's
eldest sister, died the very day before she was christened. Towards
the end of March, however. Lord Cumberland did go to Skipton, and
for the first time saw his little girl, then about eight weeks old, and on
the 2nd of April, carrying with them her brother Robert, and herself,
they all went away from Skipton up to London. She never came
into Skipton Castle after that time, she says, until the i8th of July,
1649, when her second lord was then living, while about six months
before this second visit had been paid, the castle had been dismantled
and the principal buildings puUed down by order of the parliament
in the time of the Civil Wars. She was only ten weeks old when she
first arrived in London, and, although she did not go again to the
North till after the death of her father, she visited other parts of
England, sojourning at different times in Northamptonshire, Kent,
Berkshire and Surrey. Her httle elder brother had died at Skipton,
and had been buried in the parish church there, before she and her
parents and little Lord Robert had left the place.
When she was about fourteen months old, the second brother
Robert, then Lord Clifford, died at North HaU in Hertfordshire, and
" ever after that time," she says, " I continewed to bee the onely
Childe of my parents, nor had they any other Daughter but myself."
She was sixty-three years old when she was writing or dictating this
diary, but thinking back upon her early life, was able to state, " I was
verie happie in my first Constitution, both in my mynd and Bodye.
Both for internall and extemall Endowments, ffor never was there
ChUde more equallie resembleing both Father and Mother than myself.
The CoUour of mjme eyes was Black lyke my ffather's and the forme
and aspect of them was quick and Lively, like my Mother's. The
Haire of myne head," she goes on to state " was Browne and thick,
and so long as that it reached to the Calfe of my Legges when I stood
upright, with a peake of Haire on my forehead and a Dimple in my
Ch5mne lyke my Father, fuU Cheekes and round faced lyke my mother,
and an exquisite shape of Bodie resembling my Father." Then,
58 Lady Anne.
pondering on the way in which all these bodily perfections had passed
away, she begins to refer to her mental power, where she says, " I had
a Strong and Copious memorie, a sound Judgement and a discemeing
spirritt, and so much of a strong imagination in mee as that many
tymes even my Dreames and apprehensions before hand, proved
to be true. So as ould Master John Denham, a greate astronomer,
that sometimes lived in my Father's howse, would often say Thatt
I had much in mee in nature to shew that the sweete Influences of the
Pleiades and the Bands of Orion mentioned in the book of Job, were
powerfull both at my Conception and Nativity."
Lady Anne tells us that she was brought up exceedingly well by
her mother, and praises this good mother for almost everything she
had done for her. She says that in her infancy, youth, and a great
part of her life she had escaped many dangers both by fire and water,
by passage in coaches and falls from horses, by burning fevers (she
had a terrible fever when just at the age at which her brothers died,
five years and eight months), and excessive extremity of bleedings,
many times to the great hazard of her life. She then refers to the
cunning and wicked devices of her enemies which she had also escaped
and passed through miraculously " even," she says, " the better for
them," and attributes all her preservation from these troubles to
the " prayers of my devout Mother, who incessantlie begged of God
for my safety, and preservation."
From the little account book, now no longer in existence, but which
Whitaker was fortunate enough to find at Skipton, and which dealt
with the expenses of the young girl's education, we are able to form
some sort of idea of her childhood. The book was prefaced by a
prayer and some verses which he thought were in the handwriting
of Samuel Daniel, her tutor, and if that was so, Daniel must have
commenced his tuition when Lady Anne was barely eleven years old.
The entire account which is entered up in this book between August,
1600, and August, 1602, amounted to £28 12s. id., and she had spent
out of it £35 13s. 3d., a very large proportion of which went in presents
and gifts. Whoever was responsible for writing it, noted down
from time to time what the little girl gave away. A " golden picture "
was lost on one occasion, probably her miniature, and the person
who found it was rewarded with a gift of two shillings. Soon after
The Early Days of Lady Anne. 59
that, her looking-glass was lost, and the man who found that had six
shillings given to him — ^it was evidently a very precious glass. To the
man who brought her a present of twelve Uttle glasses of a sweetmeat,
from Lady Audley, two shilUngs were presented, and to a man who
brought her some Indian clothes, a gift from a Captain Davis,' sixpence
was given, while almost immediately following that, comes the entry
of a gift of two shillings to a man who brought a present from Lady
Derby,* of a pair of writing tables, probably ivory or polished ass's
skin tablets. Then, amongst the purchases, are the entries of the
buying of an ivory box to put a picture in, which cost twelvepence,
a wire frame for a ruff, which cost seven shillings, a pair of Jersey
stockings, which cost four shillings, two pairs of shoes of Spanish
leather, and one pair of calf leather, which together cost I4d., while
for making her heindkerchiefs and her clothes, fine holland was bought
at a cost of 2s. 8d. per eU, and some " lawne " was purchased at " the
sign of the Holy Lambin St. Martin's."
When she went away to stay with her aunt at Chenies, there was
a gift of three shillings to the woman who attended to her breakfast
and washed her hnen, and 2s. 6d. to the groom who made the fires
and attended to the room, while on one occasion, when some musicians
came to play at her chamber door, they received 2s. 6d. as a gift, but
when she had a little party of her own, and they were there probably
the whole evening, they were paid los. od. Someone at LiUford,
probably her great-aunt Mrs. Elmes, sent her a brace of pheasants,
and the carriers who brought them were presented with a gratuity of
elevenpence. Her dancing master was a man named Stephens, and
he had 20s. od. per month for his fee, while the artist who drew her
portrait received 3s. od., but his name unluckily is not given in the
book of accounts. Some bunches of feathers for her hair cost sixpence,
some green worsted stockings 4s. 3d., a headdress 5s. od., a ring and
jewel 9s. 3d., whUe some glass flowers, and some pendants of gold
and pearls, which were probably adornments, cost 7s. od. in the one
case, and 12s. od. in the other. She herself bought an hour-glass,
* Probably John Davys, the navigator, as his name is often spelled Davis. He sailed with
Cavendish, but was in England just at this time. He died in 1605. He was the inventor of
the double quadrant, and one of his instruments, recovered from the Royal George (1782), is
in the Naval Museum at Greenwich.
* The wife of William, 6th Earl and daughter of the 17th Earl of Oxford,
6o Lady Anne.
which cost fourpence, and also a mask, perhaps to use at her own
party, which cost two shilUngs, and for two paper books, one in which
these accounts were kept, and the other in which she could write out
her Catechism, a shilling was paid.
Perhaps the most interesting of aU the extracts, and the one that
most reveals her as a child, is the 5s. od. paid for " Utel silkworms,"
and the next entry to it is the largest in the book of accounts, 33s. od.
for slea (or unravelled) silk, perhaps to use in embroidery. It is curious
to remember that Bishop Rainbow, in her funeral sermon, speaking
of Lady Anne's wisdom, said that she could discourse well " on all
subjects from predestination to slea silk." It would therefore appear
to be Ukely, that, as she began as a child to interest herself with silk
and silkworms, so she continued to take pleasure in the use of silk,
and in her Great Picture she has by her side her embroidery and many
skeins of richly coloured silk. From other entries in the book we hear
that she was taught French and music in addition to dancing, that
she used to go and see her various aunts in their coaches, and that
she made a present to the groom who looked after her at each of the
houses, that she often had presents from relatives of gold, of trinkets,
venison (once a whole stag at a time, a curious gift for a girl of eleven),
fish and fruit, and of little barrels (or boxes) of groats or fourpences,
while invariably, to the person who brought her a gift, she made a
suitable gratuity.
All this deals with the lighter and more frivolous side of the young
girl's life, but we must now consider its more solid aspect. She teUs
us on the Great Picture, that she was " blessed by the education and
tender care of a most affectionate dear and excellent mother, who
brought her up in as much goodness and knowledge as her secrets
and years were capable of." The education must certainly have been
of a serious character and Lady Anne a precocious emd highly-developed
scholar in her early years, if she w£is able to use the books which
surroimd her in the representation in the left wing of the Great Picture.
They are more particularly described in our chapter on the Picture,
but as they include Epictetus and Boethius, the writings of St. Augus-
tine, the History of the Church by Eusebius the Works of Ovid, and
Cornelius Agrippa on the Vanity of Science, they cannot be said to
err on the lighter side. The only book in the whole twenty-five that
The Eakly Days of Lady Anne. 6i
can in the very least be termed light literature in Don Quixote,^ but
the list certainly included Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, and the works
of Spenser and of Chaucer, while of French hterature, we find the
French Academy in three volumes, and Montaigne's Essays, although
in all probabihty, as we shall see later on, these were not in the
original, but in EngUsh translations.^ Amongst the books, moreover,
are to be found all the works in verse of Samuel Daniel and the
Chronicle of England in prose, by the same author " tutor to this
young lady," and it was to Daniel that she owed this more serious
side of her education. It was between 1595 and 1599 that Daniel
first became acquainted with Lady Anne's home. The Dictionary of
National Biography tells us that he had already shown some interest
in the Chfford family, when he wrote "The Complaynt of Rosamond,"
and he settled himself down with great satisfaction in his new work
as tutor to Lady Anne, and instilled into her, from tender years, a
taste for poetry, history and the classics. It was not the first duty of
that kind undertaken by the poet. He had been tutor to William
Herbert, and had resided at Wilton, with his pupil's father. Lord Pem-
broke, receiving considerable encouragement in his literary projects
from Mary, Countess of Pembroke, Sir Philip Sidney's sister, the
mother of young Herbert. His first poems had been printed in 15 91,
and the book dedicated to his patroness. Lady Pembroke. " The
Complaynt of Rosamond" appeared later, with some new sonnets,
and at that time, Daniel's verse cam.e under the notice of Edmund
Spenser, who introduced a reference to him in his " Colin Clout's come
home againe," and addressing him by name, advised him to attempt
tragedy. Daniel's next book, however, was a History of the Civil
Wars, a long historical poem, written in imitation of Lucan's
Pharsaha, and then we come to the time he accepted this engagement.
His intercourse with both mother and daughter appears to have
been congenial, and he addressed them both in his poetic epistles.
It is hardly necessary to quote these effusions, but in one of his poems
^ Don Quixote is a rather puzzling entry. The first English translation of it is Skelton's of
1612 — the first French translation that of 1613, so that if Lady Anne saw the book as a child
it could only have been in the original Spanish. Perchance her tutor translated some of its
stories, or she may have possessed a copy with wood block cuts in it and interested herself in
these.
' Probably Florio's edition, 1603.
62 Lady Anne.
addressed to Lady Anne herself, in which he speaks of " That better
part, the mansion of your mind," he bids her store it with what he
calls
The richest furniture of worth
To make ye highly good as highly born,
And set your virtues equal to your kind.
Such are your holy bounds, who must convey
(If God so please) the honourable blood
Of Clifford and of Russell, led aright
To many worthy stems, whose offspring may
Look back with comfort, to have had that good
To spring from such a branch that grew s'upright :
Since nothing cheers the heart of greatness more
Than the ancestor's fair glory gone before.
It is clear, however, from a letter which Daniel wrote to Sir Thomas
Jordan, in 1601, and which is quoted in the article already referred
to, that the work of tuition was irksome to him. In it he speaks
about his misery, that whilst he ought to have been writing about
" the actions of men," he had been " constrayned to bide with
children." But for all that, he seems to have exercised a wise in-
fluence upon his young pupil, and to have been greatly indebted to
her mother for patronage and assistance, for the poem which he calls
" A General Defence of Learning " which he brought out in 1599,
whilst he was in her service, was specially dedicated, by her permission,
to Lady Cumberland. It has been said that Daniel succeeded Spenser
as Poet Laureate, but there is no real evidence to support this statement
although it is clear that he was often at Court, and regarded as a Court
poet, and a popular and acceptable one.
He was the owner of a farm at Beckington near Phipps Norton
in Somersetshire, and either to that or to another farm near by called
" The Ridge " he retired in his old age, and there died in 1619.
His tomb was erected by his pupil. Lady Anne, and is curiously
characteristic of her, because, although it commemorates her old
tutor, yet by far the greater part of the inscription is taken up with
reference to herself, and to her own work. It is a plain monument,
and on the north wall of the church at Beckington. The inscription
reads as follows : —
The Early Days of Lady Anne. 63
Here lyes, expectinge the second comming of
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, ye Dead Body
of Samuel Danyell, Esq., that Excellent Poett and
Historian, who was Tutor to the Lady Anne
of Clifiord in her youth, she that was sole Daughter
and Heire to George Clifiord Earl of Cumberland
Who in Gratitude to him erected this Monument
in his Memory a long time after when she
was Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorsett
& Montgomery. He dyed in October 1619.
She Wcis distinctly attached to her tutor, for she introduced his
portrait on the left wing of the Great Picture which she had painted,
describing him in the inscription underneath it as " Tutour to this
Young Lady, a man of an Upright and excellent Spirit, as appeared
by his Works." It is, however, permissible to notice that the inscrip-
tion does not give her own particular opinion of Daniel, nor state
that, according to her knowledge, he was a man of upright and ex-
cellent spirit, but refers the reader to his works for the evidence of
the existence of these special characteristics. The same inscription,
goes on to refer to his death, and to his burial.
It was probably during the tuition of Samuel Daniel that Lady
Anne acquired her interest in the poems of Spenser, and, twenty-one
years after his death, it was she who was responsible for the erection
of the first monument to the great poet. From the note-book of
Nicholas Stone (1586-1647) we take the following extract, " I allso,"
says he, " mad a monement for Mr. Spencer the pouett, and set it
up at Westmester, for which the contes of Dorsett payed me
40/."' This was the monument erected in 1620 in the south
transept, but it is stated that it got into such bad condition that the
whole thing had to be entirely renovated ; and the tomb was therefore
repaired and re-erected, April 13th, 1778, by the efforts of WiUiam
Mason the poet, who raised a subscription for restoring it " in durable
marble, instead of in mouldering freestone."
The original inscription upon the tomb referred to the position
selected for it, and read as foUows : —
Hie, prope Chaucerum situs est Spenserius, illi
Proximus ingenio, proximus ut tumulo.
' See Walpole Society Proceedings, vol. vn., p. 54.
64 Lady Anne.
Camden, in his Reges Reginae, 1600, ^ gives two other Latin inscriptions
which he declares were upon the tomb, but there is no other con-
temporary evidence supporting Camden's statement, and it has been
questioned by some authorities whether the two epitaphs quoted by
Camden were actually ever engraved upon the tomb erected by
Lady Anne, or whether they were simply intended to be so engraved.
Camden, however, appears to be quite definite that they were on the
tomb erected by Lady Anne. He gives them as follows : —
Edmundus Spencer, Londinensis, Anglicornm Poetarum nostri seculi facile
princeps, quod eius poemata faventibus Musis et victuro genio conscripta
comprobant.
Obiit imraatura morte anno salutis 1598 et prope Galfredum Chaucerum
conditur qui fcelicissime poesis Anglicis Uteris primus illustravit.
In quern haec scripta sunt Epitaphia.
Hie prope Chaucerum Spensere Poeta poetam
Conderis, et versu, qu^m tumulo proprior. . . .
Anglica te vivo vixit, plausitque Poesis . . . ;
Nunc moritura timet, te moriente, mori.
The English inscription, which was put upon the tomb erected by
Lady Anne was as follows : —
Heare lyes
(expecting the Second comminge of ovr Saviovr Iesus Christ)
the body of
Edmond Spencer
THE Prince of Poets in his tyme
WHOSE Divine Spirrit
needs noe othir witnesse
then the Works which he left behinde him
He was borne in London
in the yeare 1510
and dyed in the yeare 1596
When the tomb was restored, the English inscription was set out
in a somewhat different fashion, but the sentences remained the same.
As a matter of fact, the dates are both of them wrong, the birth should
be, so far as the most recent investigation proves, 1552, and the
death 1599.
' B.M. C. 32 e. 4. illuminated copy, which in line 5, by a printer's error, reads "poesin"
instead of "poesis."
The Early Days of Lady Anne. 65
Lady Anne was not, however, educated by Samuel Daniel alone,
but he was assisted by a governess, a certain Mrs. Anne Taylour,
whose portrait hangs side by side with that of Daniel in the Great
Picture, and who is described in the inscription beneath as " Govemesse
to this Young Lady, a Religious and good Woman." It goes on to
tell us that Mrs. Taylour was the daughter of a Mr. Cholmley, and
was bom at his house in the Old Bailey in London, although the year
of the good lady's birth is not filled in, and that she had many children
by her husband, Mr. WiUiam Taylour, though they all died before
her, and that she therefore died without issue. Beyond these state-
ments, we know nothing of Mrs. Taylour, but from the two. Lady
Anne derived a considerable amount of interest in books, and one of
her documents tells us that in later years she employed a reader to
read aloud to her, who used to mark on each volume or pamphlet the
day when he began and ended his task.® The books that were her
favourites may be seen grouped around her in the other wing of the
picture, but she was specially attached to the Bible, and constantly
quotes Holy Scripture in her diaries. Bishop Rainbow, in the funeral
sermon v/hich he preached, gives a quaint reference to her love of
reading. He says that she would frequently, out of " the rich Store-
house of her Memory," bring " things new and old. Sentences or
Sayings of remark, which she had read or learned out of Authors,"
and these sentences, he teUs us, she caused her servants and secretaries
to write upon pieces of paper, and then her maids were ordered to
pin them up on the walls of her room, on her bed hangings and her
* While engaged upon this volume, an interesting piece of evidence corroborative of this
statement has been discovered. In the possession of an old inhabitant of Appleby who has
recently died, was a copy of the 165 1 edition of Sir Anthony Weldon's book of the Court and
Character of King James I., and at the beginning in this volume is an inscription in Lady Anne's
handwriting to the following effect, " I began to read this book myself about ye beginninge of
June in 1669 myselfe, in Appleby Castle, and by divers of my women for me, made an end of
readinge of it the 21st of the same in 1669."
This particular volimie, with this interesting inscription, has also certain annotations. Four
of them are certainly in Lady Anne's handwriting, others in that of her secretary Sedgwick,
and yet others in another handwriting. On page i8r, Lady Anne has written a note stating
that the reference is to the king. On page 171, she has put the word " True " by the side of
a story, and against 142 she has written " Tliis have I herd," and another page, against another
story, she has written the word " notte." There is also the name of one of her servants,
Mrs. Aime Turner, written on one page, perhaps to imply that Mrs. Turner was reading at
that particular place, and the whole book is underscored in many directions, and has been read,
it is quite evident, with considerable cajre. The booU is now preserved in Appleby Castle.
F
66 Lady Anne.
furniture, so that she might see her favourite quotations while she
was dressing, and as occasion served, might remember and refer to
them in conversation, " so that," says the old bishop, " though she
had not many Books in her Chamber, yet it was dressed up with the
flowers of a Library."
Her father had given instructions, however, that his daughter was
only to be trained in English, he apparently having no intention that
she should learn either Latin of Greek, and Lady Anne herself implies,
although she does not actually state it as a fact ; that she did not read
French. It is clear from her books of accounts that she was in early
days taught French, but that may have been before Daniel arrived
on the scene, and her father's instructions may have followed upon
his coming as her tutor. If that is the case, the various classical and
French works which appear in the picture must all have been read
by her in translations. Still it would have been an unusual thing for
a girl of her position in life to have had no knowledge of French, emd
we are inclined to think that the statement respecting her knowledge
of languages was only intended to apply to Latin and Greek, and
she must surely have spoken and read the French tongue.
She herself, however, says, " The said young lady was not admitted
to learn any language, because her father would not permit it, but
for all other knowledge fit for her sex, none was bred up to greater
perfection than herself."
Whether due to the severity of her early education, or to her naturally
weakly health, she seems to have suffered much from illness during
childhood, and was frequently sent away from home " with old
Mr. Elmes^" and his wife Alice, who was aunt to her mother " by
blood of the St. Johns, "where," she says, "she was seasoned with the^
grounds of goodness and the love of a private country life." It was
with these same old people that her mother as a child had often
stayed. When, however. Lady Anne grew sturdier, her mother brought
her up to London, staying at first at the house on Clerkenwell Green
which had been bequeathed to Lady Cumberland in 1596 by the
Dowager Countess of Derby, and which, as a country house in the
•" She possessed an interesting Pedigree of the St. Johns of Bletso drawn up in black and
colour and given her by her cousin Lady Barrington in 1629. This we discovered quite re-
cently at Skipton and it has special references to Mr. and Mrs. glmes. It is at Appleby Castle.
The Early Days of Lady Anne. 67
fields near to London, was thought to be a more suitable place of
residence for the young girl than the mother's own house in Austin
Friars, in the very heart of the metropohs.
Then commenced her society Kfe, but for that we must go to a
diary at Knole, very kindly placed at our disposal by Lord Sackville.
She had herself told us in her own Great Book that from the age of
thirteen she had been welcomed at Court, " because," says she, " I was
much beloved by that Renowned Queene Elizabeth, who dyed when
I was about thirteen yeares and two monthes ould," but in the diary,
part of which is inaccurately quoted by Seward and which is mani-
festly incomplete, but of extreme importance ; she goes into much
closer reference to her life with her mother and her attendance at
Court. In it she states that, if Queen Elizabeth had lived, she had
intended to have preferred her to have been in the privy chamber,
for at that time there was " as much hope and expectation of me "
says she, " both for my person and my fortunes, as of any other young
lady whatsoever." Then the Queen removed to Richmond, where
she began to grow sickly, and Lady Warwick used often to go to see
Her Majesty, and carried Lady Anne with her in the coach, when she
had to wait in the outer chamber, until her aunt was free. About
the 2ist or 22nd of March, 1603, Lady Warwick sent word to Lady
Cumberland, who was then living at ClerkenweU, in the house left
her by the Dowager Countess of Derby ; that she should go to her
house in London, in Austin Friars, in case that there was any com-
motion. It was evident that Queen Elizabeth was very ill, and
rioting was feared in the villages about the Metropolis, and then,
three da}^ afterwards. Lady Warwick's servant brought them word
in Austin Friars that the Queen had died that morning, and the
message was delivered, she tells us, to her mother in the very room
in which afterwards she was married. King James was proclaimed
that morning at Cheapside, and Lady Anne went out to see the sight
and to hear the proclamation, telling us that the peaceful coming in
of the King had been unexpected by all sorts of people. A few days
afterwards, she seems to have gone back to ClerkenweU to live, and
then, she states, that the first time the King sent to the House of
Lords, he commanded that Lord Cumberland, amongst other persons,
should be added to his Privy Council. The body of Queen Elizabetji
68 Lady Anne.
was brought by barge from Richmond to Whitehall, Lady Anne's
mother and other ladies of the Court attending it. For a while, it
was lying in state in the drawing-room and watched all night, and
Lady Anne's mother took her share in the watch, sitting up with the
body two or three nights, but, although the girl wanted to be present,
her father refused to give leave, because he considered her much
too young. She was constantly at Whitehall in these days, walking
very much in the garden, and she says that the lords and ladies of
the time were " all full of several hopes, every man expecting moun-
tains, and finding molehills, excepting Sir Robert Cecil and the house
of the Howards, who hated my mother, and did not much love my
Aunt of Warwick." The Queen's body lay in state for a considerable
time, and then the funeral took place at Westminster, and here again
Lady Anne asked to be present, but was not allowed to take part in
the ceremony, because, she says, she was not tall enough. She was,
however, successful in getting her own way, as was usually the case,
for she says " Yet I did stood in the church at Westminster to see
the solemnity performed."
Then comes her first visit to see the new King, when her aunt, with
Lady Newton and her daughter. Lady Finch, and other people, went
down to Lady Warwick's house, and from thence they all went to
Theobalds — (" Tibbals," as Lady Anne spells it) to see the King,
" who used my mother and my aunt very graciously, but we all saw
a great change between the fashion of the Court as it was now, and
of it in the Queen's time," One of these changes consisted apparently
in a want of cleanliness in the rooms " for " she adds, " we were all
lousy by sitting in Sir Thomas Erskine's chamber." There had pre-
viously been a stiff dispute between Lord Burleigh and Lord Cum-
berland as to who should carry the Sword of State before the king,
when on his journey from Scotland he had rested at York for a while.
The king had adjudicated in Lord Cumberland's favour " because it
was his office by inheritance," says Lady Anne, " so it lineally
descended on me." It is evident that, even at this tender age of
thirteen, she had a full sense of her own rights and privileges, and
of the fact that, on her father's decease all the honours and estates
which he possessed, ought to descend to her. She goes on to describe
the king's journey to Charterhouse, where he created Lord Thomas
The Early Days of Lady Anne. 69
Howard, Earl of Suffolk, and Lord Mountjoy, Earl of Devonshire,
restored Lord Northampton and Lord Essex to the positions they
had previously held before they were attainted, created many barons,
amongst whom was her uncle Russell, who became Lord RusseU of
Thomey, and made " an innumerable number of knights." We learn,
by a side reference, of the difficulties that had even then commenced
between Lord Cumberland and his wife, for she says " My father used
to come sometymes to us at Clerkenwell, but not often, for he had at
this tyme as it weare whoUie left my mother, yet the house was kept
still at his charge." Then occurs the first reference to her great friend-
ship with her cousin. Lady Frances Bourchier, whom she first met at
Bagshot, and with whom she spent the night, and with her a certain
Mistress Marye Cary, " which was the first beginning of the greatness
between us." Further on, she refers to her cousin's special kindness to
her. She and her mother, with her aunt Lady Bath, and this cousin,
had been riding to North Hall, and she had gone on a little in front
of the procession, riding alone with a Mr. Meverell. This had made
her mother angry, and in her anger she had stated that Lady Anne
should lie in her room alone, which, says she, " I could not endure,
but my Cozen Frances got the key of my chamber and lay with me,
which was the first time I loved hir so verie well." As it happened,
the very next day this Mr. MevereU fell down suddenly and died.
It was thought at first that he must have died of the plague, and the
whole party were in great fear and amazement, because they were on
their way to Court. Lady Warwick sent them some medicines, which
they took, and they rested for a while at the house of Sir Moyle Finch,
but the disease, whatever it was, was evidently not plague, because
they were all able to go on to Court to the coronation. It was to the
memory of this cousin, who died in 1612 when only twenty-six years
old, that Lady Anne erected a tomb at Chenies. It stands in the
centre of the chapel, and consists of a plain slab of black marble,
resting upon four Tuscan columns of white marble, which themselves
stand upon another slab of black. In the middle of the lower slab
are two armorial shields, each accompanied by an Earl's coronet,
with a lozenge between them, and an inscription to the effect that
there was interred the body of the worthy and virtuous maid. Lady
Frances Bourchier, daughter of Lord Bath,
jo Lady ANNfe.
" IN WHOSE MEMORY YE LADY ANNE CLIFFORD, COUNTISSE OF DORSETT,
HER DEARE COSEN, AT HER OWNE COSTES & CHARGES, HATH ERECTED
THIS MONUMENT."
The girl was evidently of warm heart and impetuous spirit, as
Adeline, Duchess of Bedford said in her book on Chenies Church, and
when Anne was locked alone into the room, she, by her actioti, restored
the failing courage of her cousin, and they became warmly attached
to one another.
On another occasion, of the same cousin, she says " We were merry
at North-hall, my cousin Frances Bourcher [sic] and my cousin
Francis Russell and I were great one with the other." Mistress
Cary, who had accompanied them, had gained some distinction from
the fact that the Master of Orkney and Lord TiUebarne (TuUibardine)
were both of them very much in love with her, and came often to
see her.
It was some years after the erection of the tomb to her cousin's
memory, however, before Lady Anne was able to go and see it.
She had described her cousin's decease on August 30th, 1612, in these
words, " My worthy cousin german the Lady Frances Bourcher (sic),
did die of a burning fever, to my great grief and sorrow, in my mother's
house called Sutton in Kent, and she was buried at the church at
Chenies in Buckinghamshire," but it was not until 1616 that Lady
Anne was able to go to Chenies, for in a letter dated the 20th January
in that years, written by her to her mother, she says " I was lately at
Chenies, my Lord of Bedford's house, with my cousin Russell, to see
the tomb which I had made of my own costes for my dear cousin,
Frances Bourcher [sic)." One may perhaps imagine that, as the
two girls were such close friends, and Lady Frances died at Lady
Anne's mother's house, she determined to take upon herself the
privilege of erecting the tomb at Chenies to her memory.
The greater part of this little diary is taken up with records of
visits to various houses, generally in company with her mother, or
with her aunt. Lady Warwick, and frequently with a view to meeting
the King and Queen, wherever they might be. In one place Lady
Anne speaks about her aunt going to meet the Queen, taking with her
a certain Mrs. Bridges and her own cousin Anne Vavasour, and says
that she and her mother ought to have gone on with them, but the
The £arly Days of Lady Anne. 71
horses were not ready, and so she went on in the evening and overtook
her aunt at Lady Blunt's house, Ditten Hanger, and her mother
followed the next day. Later on, they continued in their journey,
and she says that they killed three horses that day with the great
heat, and so came to Lord Kent's ^^ house at Wrest,^^ but there, un-
fortunately, they found the house closed up, and nobody in it but one
servant, who had only the key of the hall, so that they had to he in
the hall nearly all the night, until towards morning, at which time a
man came and let them into the higher rooms, where they slept for
three or four hours, and then hurried away very early in the morning
for Rockingham Castle, where they overtook Lady Warwick and her
company, and continued a few days with old Sir Edward Watson and
his lady. Thence they went on to Lady Needham's, emd there, she
says, came Lady Bedford, " who was then so great a woman with the
Queene as everybody much respected hir, she havinge attended the
Queene from out of Scotland." The following day, they came up
with the Queen's procession, and that was the first time, says Lady
Anne, that " I ever saw the Queen and Prince Henrie where she
kissed us aU, and used us kindly," and they went on that night with
the Queen's train, " there being an infinite company of coaches," and
they rested at Sir Richard KnightUe's,^* " where my Lady Elizabeth
KnightUe" made exceedingly much of us." Thence she journeyed
to Coventry, and went to a gentleman's house where the Lady Elizabeth
Her Grace ^^ lay, which was the first time I ever saw her. Lady Kildare
and my Lady Harrington being her governesses," and then they came
back to Sir Richard Knightlie's. The next day they went on with
the queen to Althorp, and there for the first time she saw her cousin,
Henry CUfford, and there was evidently a great company in the house,
what she calls " an infinite number of lords and ladies," and on the
Monday, the journey extended to Hatton Fermers, where the King
met the Queen, and they moved on to Grafton, where the Earl of
Cumberland entertained them all with speeches and delicate presents,
at which time, she says, " my Lord and the Alexanders did run a
course on the field, where he hurt Henry Alexander very dangerously."
^ Sir Henry Grey, sixth Earl of Kent. " Now tlie property of Lady Lucas,
^ Fawsley Park, Nortliampton.
" Daughter of Edward, Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector
^ Paugbter of James L, afterwards Queen of Bohemia,
^2 Lady Anne.
She speaks about the Queen's favour to Lady Hatton/* Lady Cecil,
and Lady Rich, and remarks on the fact that Queen Anne showed no
favour to the elder ladies, only to the younger ones, while there is
a most pathetic remark concerning her mother, to the effect that
" all this tyme of the King's being at Grafton, my mother was ther,
but not heald as Mistress of the house, by reason of ye difference
between my Lord and hir, which was growne to a great height."
It must indeed have been a strange position for Lady Cumberland,
the King and Queen entertained by her husband, and she herself not
on speaking terms with him, but obhged to see someone else — her own
sister in all probabiHty— regarded as superintending the arrange-
ments of the house.i' Lady Anne then refers to the continuance of
the Royal progress, to the house of a certain Dr. Challoner at Amer-
sham, and, with one more resting-place, on to Windsor, where the
feast of St. George was solemnised, when a large number of ladies
were sworn of the Queen's Privy Chamber, so many, in fact that she
tells us "it made the place of no esteem or credit." It is evident
1* Alice wife of Sir Christopher (born Fanshawe).
" This house was usually known as Grafton Regis. It was the place where Henry VIII.
had his last interview with Cardinal Campeggio before the Cardinal left England, and it is
described with considerable detail by Cavendish, the faithful biographer of Cardinal Wolsey,
who accompanied Cardinal Campeggio on that occasion. We also hear of Henry VIII. being
there in 1531, and receiving in the house the ambassadors from Hungary, and there are several
references in the State Papers of Henry VIII's time to hunting at Grafton, and to expenses in
connection therewith. Queen Elizabeth was at Grafton in 1568, and King James stayed there
twice during the early part of his reign. In the time of Charles, it was occupied by Lord Cum-
berland, and the house was used as a convenient resting-place on the journeys between London
and the North. There are some allusions in the Clifford papers to pasties of red deer venison
being sent to Grafton by express messenger from Skipton, and also to the fact that whole car-
cases of stags were baked at Skipton and despatched to Grafton to be cut up and used at the
banquets. The accoimts refer also to charges for currants and lemons supphed from Skipton
for use at Grafton in the " stag pies," and also to pepper, used for the same purpose, and there
are allusions to the fact that Lord Cumberland sent presents to various neighbours of special
deer pasties, which were made for him at Skipton, while on one occasion, six of these pasties
were sent down to Appleby, that they might be used in the entertainment of the judges.
Later on, Grafton was mortgaged by Charles I. to Sir Francis Crane. In 1643 it was in the
occupation of Lady Crane, and was then garrisoned for the king under Sir John Digby, but
at Christmas it was stormed and captured byrfhe Commonwealth forces, and on Christmas
Eve was surrendered, and then the house was sacked and set on fire'. One of the State Papers
at that time refers to it as " the bravest and best seat in the kingdom, a house of great value,
containing things of great worth and estimation, which the common soldiers divided amongst
themselves, havin.g gfreat and rich plunder for their pains." The whole place was destroyed
at that time, and the house which later on occupied the site was a seventeenth century biiilding,
erected by the first Diike of Grafton, and that was in its turn destroyed, and th^ present msaior
house is an ordinary building of modecate size.
The Early Days of Lady Anne. ys
that she has a desire herself at one time to be in the Queen's Privy
Chamber, and spoke to Lord Bedford about it, ' but," she adds,
" I had the good fortune to miss it." On the occasion of the solemn-
isation of the feast of St. George, she stood in the great haJl, and saw
the King and all the Knights sitting at dinner, and she saw also the
reception of the Archduke's ambassador, who was received by the
King and Queen in the great hail. Then she went on with the Court
to Hampton Court, and she says " About the round towers were tents,
where the people were dying two and three a day with plague."
She became very iU with a fever, and her mother was in grave doubt
whether it was not the plague, but after two or three days, she got
better, and then was sent away to stay with some cousins at Norbury,
and the woman-in- waiting who had usually been with her was put
away because her husband was iU of the plague, of which he died
shortly afterwards.
Another naive remark appears in connection with the residence
of the Court at Hampton Court. She says " At Hampton Court my
mother, myself and the other ladies dined in the presence, as they used
in Queen Elizabeth's time, but that custom lasted not long. About
this tjnne my Lady of Hertford began to grow great with the Queen,
and the Queen wore her picture." Then came the coronation on
July 25th. Her father and mother were both present in their robes,
and also her aunt. Lady Bath, and her uncle. Lord Warwick, but
her mother would not let her " go, because the plague was so hott in
London." Her cousin. Lady Frances Bourchier, she teUs us, did see
it, but had to stand, because she had " noe robes, and went not amongst
the company." Lady Anne continued at Norbury, and speaks with
some satisfaction of the " peare pies and such things " which she had
there during the time of her iUness. When she was better, her mother
fetched her home, and they went to a little house near Hampton
Court, where they lived for about a fortnight, and then Frances and
she came together again, with their friend Mary Cary, and used to
walk about the garden of the house when the King and Queen were
not there. Just at that time she says her cousin Anne Vavasour
was married to Sir Richard Warburton.
Later on, the Court seems to have gone to Basingstoke, and Lady
Cumberland and her daughter and Lady Bath went to reside at
74 Lady Anne.
Sir Francis Palme's house, Launce Levell, but they often went to
Basingstoke to see the Queen and Lady Arabella, who was then with
her. On one occasion the Queen went from Basingstoke to dine with
Sir Henry WEillop,^^ where Lady Anne, her mother and her aunt had
been two or three nights before, and they helped to entertain the
royal party. As they rode home from Lady Wallop's to Launce
Levell, quite late in the evening, she records the fact that she saw
" a strange comet in the night like a cannopie in the aire," and that
it was observed all over England. At that time Lady Bedford was
beginning to lose favour with the royal party. " Now was my Lady
Ritch growen great with the Queene," she says, " in so much as my
Lady of Bedford was somethinge out with hir, and when she came to
Hampton Court was entertayned but even indifferentlie and yet
continued to be of the bedchamber."
Another house that she went to belonged to Sir Edmund Fetti-
place,^" and she also stayed at Wantage and at Barton with a Mrs.
Dormer, from thence making her way to Woodstock, whither the
Court had moved. While the King was in residence at Woodstock
some of the trouble concerning her land had commenced, and Lady
Cumberland was writing letters to the King, and was speaking to the
Queen through Lady Bedford. " My father," shes ays " at this time
1* Son of Queen Elizabeth's Treasurer.
1* This house, no doubt, was Swinbrook Manor, the residence at that time of one of the
wealthiest of the Oxfordshire Squires. The local rhyme referring to this family thus : —
" The Traceys and the Laceys and the Fettiplaces
Own all the manors, the parks and the chases."
The family died out in the male line in 1743, and the female collateral branch, to whom
Swinbrook fell, ruined themselves in two generations, and finally pulled down the manor, which
was an exceedingly grand example of Elizabethan architecture. Not one stone of it remains,
but its terraces and fish-ponds may still be seen.
The little church near by contains the remarkable monuments to the Fettiplace family,
several fine brasses, and one extraordinary tomb, commemorating six members of the family.
Sir Edmund himself is amongst the six, and he is thus described : —
" Read and record rare Edmund Fettiplace,
A knight most worthy of his rank and race,
Whose prudent manege in two happy reignes,
Whose publique service and whose private paines.
Whose Zeal to God, and toward ill Severitie,
Whose Temperance, whose Justice, whose Sinceritie,
Whose native mildness to both great and small,
Whose faith and love to friend, wife, child and all
In life and death made him beloved and deer
To God and menn, and ever famous heer,"
The Early Days of Lady Anne. 75
followed his suit to the Kinge about the border lands, so that some-
tymes my mother and he did meet by chaunce, wher ther countenances
did show the dislik they had one of ye other, yet he would speak to
me in a slight fashion, and give me his blessing." The Court moved
on to Oxford, and she was there on more than one occasion, and there
it was that she says she saw " the Spannish Embassador, who was
then new come to England about the peace," but while near by, she
indulged herself with eating so much fruit that shortly afterwards
at Borton, where she used to stay, both she and Mary Gary were ill.
Lady Bath had been presenting before the King a suit which she
had for the recovery of certain lands, but at length she had but little
hope of her ultimate success, and so took her leave of Lady Cumber-
land and returned into the West Country to her own home.
Apparently, the income Lord Cumberland was allowing to his
wife during the time of this disturbance, was very limited in its
amount, and Lady Bath had been helping her sister in paying her
household charges. " While they lay at Borton," says Lady Anne,
" my mother and my aunt paid for the charge of the house equallie."
Soon after Lady Bath had left for the West, she and her mother took
a long journey to Greene's Norton, to the house of a cousin, a Mr.
St. Leger (" SeUenger," as she spells it, adopting the pronunciation
of that and the present day) and she did not get there till ten o'clock
at night, when she says " I was so wearie as I could not tell whether
I should sleepe or eate first." A little later on, we hear of the party
at North Hall, staying with Lady Warwick, who was ill sind melan-
choly because of the plague, and it would look as though Lady Cum-
berland was then receiving some assistance in her expenses from her
uncle and aunt. Lord and Lady Russell, because she speaks of them
in conjunction with her mother and herself, giving all the allowance
to Mr. Chambers, " my aunt's Steward," for keeping up the house
for them. It was at North HaU that she speaks of her " haire coloured
velvet gown ' v^hich she says she wore every day, and adds that she
" learned to singe and play on the bass viol of Jack Jenkins, my
aunt's boye." She evidently had a happy time at North Hedl, her
two cousins were there, and they all got on together exceedingly well.
The final clause in this quaint little memoir refers to some Court
scandal. She says, " Now there was much talk of a maske which
76 Lady Anne.
the Queene had at Winchester, and how all the ladies about the Court
had gotten such ill names that it was grown a scandalous place, and
the Queene herself was much fallen from hir former greatness and
reputation she had in the world."
The only remaining piece of information that we possess Concerning
the life of Lady Anne at this early period consists in the solitary letter
amongst the muniments at Appleby, written by her before her marriage.
It is an important example of the manner in which a girl of fifteen
in those days addressed her parents, and although illustrated in our
pages, it is well to give it in ordinary spelling in this place. It is
addressed to the " Right Honourable my very good Lady and Mother,
the Countess of Cumberland," and, according to Lady Anne's en-
dorsement (very much later in her life) it was written from Grafton 2"
at the latter end of August, 1605.
Madam,
I thought to have gone to Oxford, according to your Ladyship's desire with
my Lady Arbella, and to have slept in her chamber, which she much desired,
for I am the more bound to her than can be, but my Lord would not have me
go with the Court thither, but I shall meet it at Oxford to-morrow, and after
my being there, I wUl send my footman to your Ladyship, that you may know
how things go with me, for I have had a great deal of talk with my Lord about
that matter you know of, for that match, and my Lord hath promised me
that there shall nothing pass for any match whatsoever, but that your consent
should be asked as a chief matter. I beseech your Ladyship to pardon my
boldness in writing to you thus rudely, and to let nobody to know of these
matters, though they be but trifling.
I rest, as I am bound by nature, love and duty.
Your Ladyship's most obedient and dutiful daughter,
(Signed) Anne Clifford.
It is probable that this letter refers to certain overtures that were
already being made for Lady Anne's hand, and "my Lord, ' who
is mentioned in it, was perhaps her father, but it may have been
young Lord Buckhurst, who was then beginning to pay attentions
to her.
In this connection, it may be of interest to refer to another letter
amongst the Appleby archives which concerns Lady Arabella Stuart,
and which gives some fresh details respecting her last hours. She was
*• See note on page 72 concerning Grafton.
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The Early Days of Lady Anne. tj
evidently deeply attached to Lady Anne, and their name occurs
together on several occasions in these early days, whUe remotely, the
two young people were connected. She was of course next in the line
of succession to the English throne after her first cousin James I.
The letter is from Mary, Countess of Shrewsbury, daughter of the
well-known " Bess of Hardwick " by her second husband Sir WiUiam
Cavendish, and is dated the 8th of December, 1615, Lady Arabella
having died on the previous 25th of September. Lady Anne has
endorsed the letter with the following superscription " Most of it
.being of the death of her niece, the Lady Arbella, who died in the
Tower of London about the beginning of October in 1615," the date
quoted by Lady Anne not being absolutely accurate. Lady Shrews-
bury, who was sister to Lady Arabella's mother wrote as follows, the
letter being addressed to Lady Anne's mother, the Countess of Cum-
berland,
Madam,
I still find the continuance of your noble disposition to your friends, as well
dead as alive, you commiserating hard fortune in the heavy loss I have of my
Lady Arbella, whose worth I protest was many degrees more dear to me than
any greatness could be this use. I make of this loss to esteem no more of the
world than to lawne to a rotten veil. My comfort is that I hope she died a
saint. Her weakness was not known to me till she was, in all men's opinions
that was about her, to have died that night, which was about two days before
her death, and the next morning, I was made to believe she was much better,
so I saw her not till her ears, her tongue and eyes were all closed as one dead,
only for a few hours after my coming she did draw her breath, the apparition
she' saw, and divers times expressed, was very heavenly. The last words she
spoke of any worldly thing, was to desire earnestly to see me, the rest, if it
please God we ever meet, your Ladyship shall know at length, so, being unfit
to write of any other matter, when my heart is possessed with this, I must for
this time crave pardon, and beseech the Highest ever to grant your Ladyship
and yours all true happiness.
From Broad Street,
where or in what place soever I am,
I remain faithfully at your Ladyship's disposition
8 Dec, 1615. (Signed) M. Shrewsbury.
It is probable that it was during an interval in her Court life that
Lady Anne was taken away by her mother to the North for a few
months, in order that she might see the lands to which she was the
78 Lady Anne.
rightful heir. She herself tells us that she and her mother, were,
"forced for their own good" to go down to Westmorelemd, that
they came to Appleby Castle on the 22nd of July, 1607, the first time
she had been into the county and in her father's lands since his death.
Lady Cvunberland had already determined the course of action that
she should adopt with regard to the land, and desired to set on foot
a very careful search amongst all the CMfford papers for any docimient,
however slight, or of whatever antiquity, that might help to sub-
stantiate her daughter's claim. It was in that year (1607) that she
and those about her commenced to collect the enormous mass of family
papers that are described in the chapter we give on the diary. It is
such a series of documents as surely, in the words of John Baynes,
" no other noble family in the world can show."
The mother and daughter were for some Httle time at Appleby,
and then went on to Brougham, where they stayed for three or four
days, and this was the first time that Lady Anne had ever seen the
castle. Thence they went for three or four nights more to Naworth
Castle in Cumberland, her first visit to that coimty, and then journeying
back towards London, they were not able, as they had wished, to
inspect Skipton Castle, because of contrary orders given by Francis,
Lord Cumberland, but the young girl was taken to the Beamsley
Hospital, which her mother was building, and was shown some of the
important parts of the Craven estate She and her mother stayed with
Mr. Clapham near to Beamsley, and then came back to London, to
Lady Cumberland's own house at Austin Friars, for on the i8th April,
1608, the pleadings were started in the Court of Wards concerning
all the lands of her inheritance.
79
CHAPTER VII.
LADY ANNE'S FIRST MARRIAGE.
WE have already referred to the death of Lady Anne's father
and mother, and to the difficulties that occurred with regard
to her estates ; we have now to revert to the state of affairs
which ensued when the fourth Earl of Cumberland succeeded to the
title and, under the unfortunate will of his brother, to the estates also.
Lady Anne tells us that " presently after the death of my Father,
I being left his sole Daughter and heire, his widdow my deare mother,
out of her affectionate care of my good, caused mee to chuse her my
Guardian, and then in my name, shee began to sue out a Liverie in
the Court of Wards, for my right to aU my Father's Landes by way
of prevention to hinder and interrupt the Liverie with my Unckle
of Cumberland which caused great sutes of Law to arise,
betweene her and my said Unckle, which in effect continued for one
Cause or another dureing her life. In which she showed a most
Brave spirritt, and never yielded to any opposition whatever."
In these sentences we have plainty set before us the opening of the
legal controversy which lasted until the death of the last Earl, when
Lady Anne quietly succeeded to the whole property.
The question of her marriage, however, was one of equal moment
to that concerned with her lands. She was a particularly eligible
bride, good-looking, well-educated, of a good presence, possessed of
substantial means, and in the reversion to succeed to large estates.
She had also, on her side, the dignity of family and position, and
many important relatives who were likely to help her. There seems
to have been an idea, at one time, that she should marry Sir Robert
Carr who afterwards became Earl of Somerset, and there is a letter
in existence written to Sir Dudley Carleton, in which the writer refers
8o Lady Anne.
to the fact that Sir Walter Raleigh's estates had come into the hands
of the King, by reason of a supposed flaw in the conveyance, that he
had bestowed them upon Sir Robert Carr, and that people said about
Court, that he was likely to marry Lady Anne CUfford. This marriage,
fortunately however for Lady Anne, did not come about.
Lady Anne herself, in her diary, says that in her troubles. Queen
Anne " was ever inclyneing to our part, and very gratibus and favour-
able to us, for in my youth I was much in the Courte with her, and in
Maskes attended her, though I never served her." We have a con-
temporary reference to two of these masques, which took place in
1609 and 1610. One was on the 14th of January, being the Sunday
after Twelfth Night, when Ben Jonson's Masque of Beauty ^ was
presented m honour of the Queen, who herself took part in it, accom-
panied by her husband's cousin. Lady Arabella Stuart, and fourteen
young ladies of the Court, of whom Lady Anne was one. The staging
of these masques was often magnificent, and the costumes very
beautiful. On this occasion, we are told that the scene represented
an island, floating on cahn water at night, and in the centre stood
the Throne of Beauty, surrounded with piUars, hghts, garlands and
Cupids. To this arrived The Moon, in a silver chariot drawn by
virgins, and there were many dances, songs and speeches from Father
Thames and from the Winds, the whole concluding with a compli-
mentary chorus. The masquers, one half of them were attired " in
orange-tawny and silver, and the other half in sea-green and silver,
with bodies and slcirts of white and gold to both." In the following
year, on the second of February, another masque took place, called
the Masque of Queens,^ and the principal character, the Queen of the
Ocean, was taken by Queen Anne, while the parts of eleven other
Royal ladies were apportioned to the ladies of the Court, their respective
positions being selected by lot. Amongst the Queens who were
represented were those of the Amazons, of the Scythians, and of the
Volscians, with Queen Berenice of Egypt, Queen Candace of Etliiopia,
QXieen Boadicea of the Britons, Queen Zenobia of Palmjaa and others.
1 Printed in 4to in ifiog.
2 Printed in 4to 1609 ; folio 1616. One of Jonson's richest inventions. Tlie copy in the
British Museum, once the property of David Garrick, was the presentation copy of Ben Jonsou
to the Queen.
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Lady Anne's First Marriage. 8i
It is stated that amongst the impersonators was La^y Anne Clifford.
Three weeks after this second performance, Lady Anne was married.
She gives us the information in simple fashion. " The twentie lift
day of ffebruary in 1609 I was marryed to my first Lord,
Richard SackviUe, then but Lord Buckhurst, in my mother's howse,
and her owne Chamber, in Augustine Fryers in London, which was
part of a Chappell there formerly (shee being then present at my
marriage). And within two dales after I was marryed. Dyed my
sayd Lord's ffather, Robert SackviUe, Earle of Dorsett, in Little
Dorsett Howse in Salisburie Court at London. By whose death my
sayd Lord and I then came to be Earle and Countess of Dorsett."
The young nobleman whom she married was about her own age,
having been bom on the 28th of March, 1589, he was popular at Court,
and a handsome, good-looking fellow. He was a great friend of young
Prince Henry,' and although in many respects neither a good nor a
considerate husband, yet he seems to have been deeply attached to
his wife, to have given her, in the ordinary way, proper respect and
attention, while she herself writes of him generously and sensibly.
" This first Lord of m57ne," says she, " was born in the
Charterhouse in London now called Sutton's Hospitall, his mother
being Lady Margarett Howard, onelie daughter to Thomas Duke of
Norfolk, who was beheaded " on the 2nd of June, 1572. " He was,"
she continues, " in his owne Nature of a just mynde, of a sweete
Disposition, and verie valiant in his owne person." It would appear,
by these two references to his own disposition and his own person,
that she wishes to imply that for many of his misdeeds his brother,
Sir Edward SackviUe, and not he, was reaUy responsible, and as we
shaU see later on, it was this brother whom Lady Anne always regarded
as her personal enemy, and who seems indeed to have possessed
considerable influence over her husband. She then goes on to say,
with regard to Lord Dorset's early life, that his grandfather, the first
Earl of Dorset, Lord High Treasurer of England, was considered one
of the wisest men of the day, and that, when her husband was at
Oxford, his grandfather was Chancellor, and gave considerable
•There is an interesting letter in ejdstence written by Prince Henry in 1608 to the King
regarding liis friend Lord Dorset and suggesting bis own appointment as Trustee or Guardian
for him.
82 Lady Anne.
attention to the work of the scholars in the university. Lord Dorset
himself acquired at Oxford a good sense of scholarship, and a con-
siderable affection for men of learning, so much so, she tells us, that
so great was he " a Lover of SchoUers and Souldiers as that, with an
excessive Bountie towards them (or indeede) any of worth that were
in distress, he did much Diminish his estate." Further on, she
writes that part of the " diminishing " of the estate was due to his ex-
cessive prodigality in housekeeping, and to the love that he had for
taking part in masques and in tilting competitions, especially in
conjunction with Prince Henry, who also was much addicted to these
exercises, and was Lord Dorset's favourite competitor. Finally, in this
particular reference to her husband, she alludes to his having erected
a hospital or college at East Grinstead in Sussex, when he endowed
it with lands for its maintenance, according to Ms father's intentions,
but she adds that he did not live to see any part of this erection
completed, and we shall see later on in Lady Anne's story, she had
a good deal of trouble about the endowment which he had planned
for SackviUe CoUege.
He came of an important family, for the SackvUles had been persons
of considerable power, wealth and influence from early days, and
claimed to be descended from a certain Herbrand de SackviUe, who,
it is said, was one of the captains in the army of the Conqueror.
The first SackviUe, however, of any great importance in England
was the Member of ParUament for Kent and later for Sussex, Sir
Richard SackviUe, knight, one of the Privy Cotmcil in the reigns of
Mary, Elizabeth and Edward VI., and Upper Tretisurer of the
Exchequer. He married the daughter of a wealthy Lord Mayor of
the City of London, one Sir John Bruges. At his death, she married
the Marquis of Winchester. They had a son, Thomas, who was
knighted by Queen EUzabeth, and was created Lord Buckhurst, and
he was the grandfather to whom we have just alluded, who was cele-
brated as a Latin and English poet, and a man of high literary
distinctions. In 1603, he became Earl of Dorset, and died suddenly,
at the council chamber of James I. under rather strange circumstances.
He was defending himself, it was said, against base reflections upon
his policy as Lord High Treasurer, and suddenly sprang from his seat
tearing certain papers from his pocket, and exclaiming angrily, " I
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 83
have that here which will strike you dead " but before he could speak
another word, he himself fell lifeless across the table. This dramatic
occurrence created a great sensation, and his death was attributed by
certain people to an act of Providence, but others were careful to
explain that he had always been subject to some kind of heart trouble,
and that the cause of death was probably apoplexy, brought to an
issue by his efforts under violent excitement. His son, who succeeded
him, enjoyed the family honours but a very few months, and it was
his elder son with whom we are concerned. This elder son had two
sisters ; Cicily, who married Sir Henry Compton, the third son of
Henry, Lord Compton, and Anne, who married first Lord Beauchamp,
grandson to Edward Earl of Hertford, and afterwards Sir Edward
Lewis, and one brother, Edward, who eventually succeeded him
as fourth Earl. He it was, who bitterly opposed his brother's wife,
throughout the whole of her career. Of him she writes with bitterness
and resentment. She speaks of his malicious hatred, she refers to
his vehement action against her, and rejoices when she hears of his
decease. We are not told what was the cause of the feeling that
existed between these two persons, but it is quite clear that " by the
cunningness of his wit " as she says, he was " a great practiser "
against her, from the time that she married his brother to the very
moment of his death. On the other hand. Lord Clarendon speaks of
Sir Edward SackviUe in high praise, tells us that he was an accomplished
orator, graceful, pleasant, witty, loyal, learned and vigorous. He does,
however, confess that SackviUe was accustomed to indulge his appetites
without any restraint, and that he was a riotous man with " jolly "
habits. Hence, perhaps, arose many of the difficulties.
The first occasion upon which we hear of Lord and Lady Dorset
was quite soon after their marriage. There were great festivities at
Court when Prince Henry was created Prince of Wales, and Samuel
Daniel the poet, who had been Lady Anne's tutor, presented a masque
called Tethys' Festival or the Queen's Wake, to be performed on that
occasion. Queen Anne represented Tethys, Queen of the Ocean, the
ladies of the Court the River Nymphs of England. In this instance
it is recorded that Princess Elizabeth represented the Thames, Lady
Arabella Stuart the Trent, the Countess of Montgomery the Severn,
and the young Coimtess of Dorset the Aire, a delicate compliment,
84 Lady Anne.
says a recent author, " to her birthplace, since the Aire flows by
Skipton Castle." The Earls of Dorset and of Montgomery also took
part in the masque, with six other gentlemen at Gjurt, all repre-
senting Tritons, while in the final peroration, there was a distinct
reference to Lady Anne, and to her companion Lady Montgomery in
the words : —
Then the nymph of Aire
With modest motion makes her sweet repair.
The nymph of Severn follows in degree.
With ample streams of grace.
It may be gathered from these Hnes that Daniel was convinced
from past experience that Lady Anne was likely to take her part in
the masque with discretion and charm. It is curious, however, that
she should have been associated in this play with the young Earl and
Countess of Montgomery, because many years afterwards she was to
become Lord Montgo^pery's second wife.
With regard to the estates. Lord Dorset showed himself from the
very first, imwiUing to assist her in her contest with her uncle, and m
all these courses, he was supported by his sovereign, " in which
Business " says she, " King James began to show himselfe extremely
against my Mother and me to show how much hee was bent
against my Blessed Mother and myseUe in my Unckle's Behalfe he
gave the Revertion of all these Landes in Westmoreland and Craven
out of the Crowne by pattent to my Unckle Francis Earle of Cumber-
land the grant of which Landes out of the Crowne to my
sayd Unckle and his heires was done mearlie to defeat me, as hoping
to gett my Hands to releas it to the Heirs male, but after by the
Providence of God, it turned to the best for me, for if this pattent had
not been granted out of the Crowne I should not have had that power
(which now I have) to dispose of my lands to whomsoever I please."
Lord Dorset was quite ready to compromise the whole matter. He
could see that if he could only make terms with Lord Cumberland,
through the Crown, he might be able to receive a considerable sum of
money, and he exerted himself in various directions in order to try
to persuade his wife to agree to the arrangements which the king and
Lord Cumberland were proposing, but aU was without avail. Margaret,
Lady Cumberland had gone to the North, to make her home in
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 85
Brougham Castle, on the lands of her jointure, and Lady Dorset felt
very lonesome without her mother. Her husband decided that he
must travel, having already made a promise to his grandmother
before his marriage that he would see foreign parts. He therefore
went away for about a year, and his wife retired to Knole, where
she says he came to see her on his return in April, 1612. A little
while alter that, Lady Anne lost her favourite cousin, Lady Frances
Bourchier, her girlhood's friend, and this seems to have affected her
very deeply. She and her husband then came up to London on his
return from the Continent, and went to hve at Little Dorset House
in the Strand, but in November, 1612, the whole Court was thrown
into deep mourning by the sudden death of the Prince of Wales, and
in a letter conve3dng the information. Lord Dorset wrote to Sir
Thomas Edmonds, saying, " Our rising sun is set, 'ere scarcely he had
shone, and with him aU our glory lies buried." At about the same
time, Lady Bedford died, and in the same letter Lord Dorset says,
" My Lady Bedford last night, about one of the clock, was suddenly, i
and hath continued ever since, speechless, and is past all hope, though
yet alive, and even now my wife is gone to see her, who desired to be
remembered in all love to your lady, and excused for this time, be-
cause she writes not to her, she is so full of sorrow and so unfit."
Lord Dorset, as one of Prince Henry's personeil friends, was one of
the mourners at his funeral, but the Court mourning was not permitted
to last for long, for the king's only daughter, Elizabeth, was to be
married to Prince Frederick, Elector Palatine, and the wedding took
place in the succeeding February, a gorgeous and magnificent ceremony.
Contemporary references to that wedding allude in more than one
place to Lord Dorset, and NichoUs quotes letters written by Chamber-
lain * to Dudley Carleton ^ in which he says, with reference to his
exceeding rich and costly apparel, " All speak of the Earl of Dorset,"
but he adds, " this extreme cost and riches makes us all poor."
In another letter there is an allusion to Lord Dorset's games of skill
in the open air on the occasion of the merriment after the wedding,
and the writer says that he " performed many worthy races, " and many
• John Chamberlain (1553-1627), admirable letter-writer and accomplished scholar, intimate
with some of the most eminent men in England.
^ Sir Dudley Carleton, Viscount Dorchester, (1S73-1632) diplomatist.
86 Lady Anne.
times " took the ring with much strangeness, a pleasure so princely
that the beholders' hearts leapt with joy." A little while after that,
some interesting news was sent to Lady Cumberland at Brougham,
and she came hurriedly south to be near her daughter, who was then
living at Dorset House. On the 2nd of July, 1614, Lady Anne's first
baby arrived, christened Margaret, after her grandmother. Unfor-
tunately Lady Cimaberland, owing to a curious acddent, was not
actually present at the birth of the child. She had gone, we are told,
that afternoon to visit some friends in the Tower of London. An
urgent message was sent for her to come to Little Dorset House, but
the Tower gates had been closed earher than usual that day, and
nobody was permitted to leave the precincts before the next morning.
When she made her way to Little Dorset House next day, all was over,
and the mother and child were doing well. Lady Cumberland re-
mained in London for some few weeks. She was present when the
child was christened in the Private Chapel at Dorset House, and then
she bade farewell to her daughter, left London for Brougham, and
the mother and baby journeyed down to Knole. Of aU the party, her
own daughter was the only one whom Lady Cumberland ever saw
again. During all this time, the correspondence which went on
between Lord Dorset and his wife was couched in terms of the utmost
affection, and as long as the husband and wife kept off the questions
relative to Lady Anne's property, there seems to have been warm
sympathy between them. This is evident in a letter which he wrote
to her on the 6th of October, 1617, and which commences " Sweet
heart." Lady Dorset was at that time at Knole, and after messages
to her and to her baby, the writer goes on to commend his love to his
wife, saying " whom in all things I love and hold a sober woman,
your land only excepted, which transports you beyond yourself, and
makes you devoid of all reason." Here evidently was the difficulty
between the two people. Dorset could see his way to obtaining a
large siun of money if the compromise could be carried out and he
strongly objected to law costs. He had no particular interest in the
northern csistles, or in the estates which belonged to them. He was
not interested in the history of the Cliffords, and had no desire to
involve himself in endless disputes with tenants in Westmoreland and
Cumberlcmd. He would have given a good deal to have arrived at a
Lady Anne*s First Marriage. 87
settlement, and he did his best to bring it about. It would appear
that at one time he very nearly carried his way.
We learn the whole story of the controversy between Lord and
Lady Dorset from the portion of the Day-by-Day Book, which is
now preserved at Knole. This particular diary has been seen by
more than one writer in past days, and some brief extracts have been
made from it, but on the present occasion, Lord Sackville has with
great consideration placed the document in our hands, and we are
therefore in a position to give in detail the whole story of the con-
troversy in Lady Anne's own words. The first action in the trial
had taken place in the Court of Common Pleas before four judges.
Lord Cumberland, his son, and her own husband, had all agreed to
abide by the decision of the Court, but she declined to be a party to
the suit, to accept the judgment as binding, or to sign the award.
The diary commences on the ist January, 1616, when she and her
husband were at Sevenoaks. The Bishop of St. David's * was staying
with them, and he took the service at Sevenoaks Church on the 21st
of January, Lord and Lady Dorset being present. " All this time,"
sajre Lady Anne, " I stayed in the country. I was sometimes merry and
sometimes sad, eis I had news from London." Upon the 8th of February
she came up to London, the Bishop of St. David's and Mary Neville
riding with her in the coach. The occasion was in all probability
that they might be present at the marriage of Lord Roos, the only
son of Cecil, Earl of Exeter, who " married Mrs. Anne Lake, the
secretary's daughter." Lord Dorset on that occasion spoke to her
" about the composition with my uncle of Cumberland." Then, on
the i6th, she records the fact that Lady Grantham ' and Mrs. Newton
came to see her, and told her that the very next day the Archbishop
of Canterbury (George Abbot ^) " would come to me, and she persuaded
me very earnestly to agree to this business, which I took as a great
argument of her love. My Cousin Russell came to me the same day
and chid me, and told me of all my faults and errors in this business.
He made me weep very bitterly, and then I spoke," says she, " a
prayer of Owen's, and went to see my Lady Wootten ' at Whitehall,
* Richard Milbourne, Dean of Rochester, translated to Carlisle.
' Wife of Sir Thomas Grantham of Lincoln, knighted at Belvoir Castle, April, 1603.
* He had been domestic chaplain to Lord Dorset's father, and knew all the family well.
' Wife of Thomas, Second Lord Wotton, Mary daughter of Sir A. Throckmorteu.
88 Lady AnKe.
where we walked five or six turns, but spoke nothing of this business,
though her heart and mine were full of it." Thence, we understand,
she went to Westminster Abbey, to see the tomb of the Queen of Scots,
came home by water, and caught a heavy cold. The following day
the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord William Howard, Lord Roos,
her cousin Russell, her brother-in-law Sir Edward Sackville, " and a
great company of men of quaUty, were aU in the Gallery at Dorset
House, where the Archbishop took mee aside and talked with me
privately, one Hour and a half, and persuaded me both by divine
ifind human means to set my hand to their arguments." Lady Anne,
however, was determined that she would do nothing whatever without
the consent of her mother. As a matter of fact, she had no legal
power, at that time, to consent to the award that had been made by
the four judges, without the permission of her mother. She then
goes on to state " Much persuasion was used by him and all the Com-
pany, sometimes terrifying me, and sometimes flattering me, but at
length it was concluded that I should have leave to go to my Mother,
and send an answer by the 22nd of March next, whether I would agree
to this business or not, and to this prayer my Lord of Canterbury,
and the rest of the Lords, have set their hands." The day's pro-
ceedings evidently went through better than she had anticipated,
because she refers to it as a " marvellous day," and says that her
friends generally thought she would either have consented to the
agreement or else that there would have been a dixdsion between her
and Lord Dorset. It must not be overlooked at this stage of the
controversy, that the nearest heir to the estates, Henry, Lord Clifford,
was only a year or two younger than Lady Anne, and that, therefore,
the probabilities were very strong against her ever succeeding to the
property, for not only was her uncle living, but his son was quite likely
to have a family of sons, and if he had heirs male, according to the
arrangement under her father's will, there was little chance of her
succession. She was, however, so strongly convinced of the injustice
of her father's will in forcibly breaking the entail, and so firmly
supported in this conviction by her mother, that she felt sure
eventually she would succeed to the property.
The decision having been arrived at, that she should go down to
Westmoreland, Lady Anne sent two of her servants, Tobias and
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 89
Thomas Bedding, round to the various ladies of her acquaintance in
town, to let them know that she was leaving London for some time
and journeying to the North. She speaks of the kindness extended
to her by Lord Russell, and by her cousin George, and then refers
to a visit paid to her by Lord WiUoughby,^" who breakfasted with
them. It seems to be likely that one of this peer's daughters who is
generally referred to as " Willoughby," was at this time one of her
Gentlewomen, and accompanied her to the North. The husband
and wife started off, but they went separately, in two coaches, each
drawn by four horses, and were attended by about thirty men on
horseback. Lady Anne took with her " Willoughby and Judith,"
Lord Dorset had his Gentleman, Thomas Glenham, accompanying
him. On the way from Lichfield to Croxall, Lord Dorset, trying in
vain to persuade his wife to sign the agreement and to give up her
journey to the North, parted with her in a rage, and returned to
London, while she went on into Derby with a party of about ten
persons and thirteen horses. She tells us that she went by the way
of the " dangerous moors," and that in some places, the roads were
so bad that the horses had to be taken out of the coach " to be lifted
down the hills." She also refers to the fact that upon that particular
day, the horse that was ridden by one of her attendants. Rivers, fell
from a bridge into the river ; and so she arrived at Brougham, and
had a long talk with her mother, who would not submit in any way,
and who refused to accept the award of the four judges. Lord William
Howard, with his son and another cousin, John Dudley, came to
Brougham to receive the decision, which was a direct denial to stand
to the award, and then she tells us, " the same day came Sir Timothy
Whittington ^^ hither, who did all he could to mitigate the anger
between Lord William Howard and my mother," and apparently
was to a certain extent successful, as they parted good friends, and he
had to convey the information to Lord Dorset, Meantime, Lady Anne
and her mother remained on the estate, going one day to Whinfell ^^
Park to see the woods, and making various visits. She records that
'"> Probably William, 3rd Lord Willoughby of Parham, whose wife was Lady Frances Manners
He had two daughters, Frances and Elizabeth.
'^ Knighted March 14th, 1603.
13 Originally called Qwynnefel and so pronounced by the residents to the present day.
go Lady Akne.
at this time it was, that her cousin Lord William Howard sent her a
" dapple grey nag " for her own use. She also mentions the fact
that at this Easter she received Communion with her mother, in the
chapel at Brougham.
We learn a little of what was passing in London by a sjde note to
the diary. It was just about this time that Lady Somerset was sent,
by water she says, as a prisoner to the Tower. It was also then that
Sir John Digby ^^ was made Lord Chamberlain, and sworn of the Privy
Council.
On the 1st April came a thunder-clap. Mr. Charles Howard, her
husband's first cousin, and his friend Mr. John Dudley arrived with
letters from Lord Dorset to say that the men and horses were all to
go away, and his wife was to be left alone. Lady Cumberland was
naturally indignant, and there was much dispute. Eventually a
paper ^* was drawn up to show that the servants actually went away
by Lord Dorset's direction, and contrary to Lady Anne's wish, but
after they had gone, she rather repented having let them go, and
sent off two messengers to instruct her servants to stop, as she felt
that perhaps she ought to have gone back with them to her husband.
They had, however, gone beyond her reach, and so she stayed a little
longer with her mother, when they occupied the same room and had
much talk about this tiresome business. Then Lady Cumberland lent
her a coach, and went part of the way with her, and it would appear
that this coach had to be sent back again to Brougham, because
Lady Anne says that on her return journey " most part of the way
I rid behind Mr. Hodgson." When she reached Tottenham, Lord
" First Lord Digby 25th November, 1613.
" This document is till in existence, preserved at Appleby, and evidently was regarded by
Lady Anne as an important paper, because she had deposited it with various letters from her
mother, which she kept with religious care.
It is dated the ist April, 1616, and reads thus " A Memoranda that I, Anne, Countess o{
Dorset, sole daughter and heir to George, late Earl of Cumberland, doth take witness of all
these gentlemen present, that I both desire and offer myself to go up to London with my men
and horses, but they, having received a contrary commandment from my Lord, my husband,
will [sicj by no means consent nor permit me to go with them. Now my desire is that all the
world may know that this stay of mine proceeds only from my husband's command, contrary
to my consent or agreement, whereof I have gotten these names underwritten to testify the
same."
The document is signed by many people, the first signature is that of Margaret, Countess
of Cumberland, then follow those of Christopher and Mary Lowther, Christopher Pykeringe,
Christopher Crackenthorpe, Robert DoumviUe, James Belassys, and others.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 91
Dorset's coach with the men and horses was there to meet her, and
she journeyed to London for the night, and on the following day went
on down to Knole. She records that there she had a very cool welcome.
Lord Dorset himself was not at the gate to meet her. Her little girl.
Lady Margaret, was, however, at the outermost gate, but it was not
imtil she reached the Drawing-Chamber that she saw her husband,
and even then, she could not pluck up courage enough to tell him,
what she did inform him on the following day — that the whole of
the writings the judges had prepared and which Lord Dorset had
told her she must sign and seal, she had left behind with her
mother, who was determined she should not sign them. Lord Dorset
rather naturally was indignant, and went off at once with his Gentleman,
Thomas Glenham, to London. A few days later on, he sent down
the steward of his house to teU her that this was the last time he
would ask her whether she would set her hand to the judge's award,
and she replied with alacrity that she could not do it, whatever misery
it cost her. The Bishop of St. David's came to talk to her, and to
discuss the question with her later on. On the ist May, another
servant in high position was sent down to say that if she refused, she
should neither Uve at Knole or at Bollbroke,^^ and on the 2nd came
yet another person who told her, and also told the servants, that
Lord Dorset was coming down to see her once more, and that would
be the last time they would see him at Knole. StiU further to annoy
her, her husband decided that Lady Margaret should be taken away
from her, and Peter Basket, the Gentleman of his Horse, rode down
from London with a letter to say that the child was to be taken away
at once to London. She sent for the steward, Legge, talked it over
with him, wept bitterly over the whole circumstance, and decided
that to refuse her permission would " make my Lord more angry
with me, and be worse for the child " and so the following day little
Lady Margaret went off in the litter to London, with her own attendant,
Mrs. Bathurst, two maids, the steward of the household and a good
company of servants, and was taken up to Great Dorset House, because
^ One of the earliest brick edifices in Sussex. It originally belonged to the Dalingregg family
and came to the Sackvilles by an heiress. By the marriage of Lady Margaret it passed into
the Tufton family, but was sold in 1770 to Lord George Sackville, afterwards first Viscount .
It was at one time a great house, and the tower gateway is still imposing and picturesque.
The Duke of Dorset re-acquired it in 1790.
ga Lady Anne.
by this time Lord Dorset had removed from the house where he was
first married, and had gone to his larger family residence. A few days
later, her husband decided that the child was to go to live at West
Horsley in Surrey, and not to come near her mother at aU, and also
that she herself should be sent away from Knole, and then, overcome
with sorrow, quite early in the morning, she wrote " a very earnest
letter to beseech my Lord that I might not go to the Httle house that
was appointed for me, but that I might go to Horsley and sojourn
with my cMld," and by the same messenger sent a similar letter to
her sister-in-law. Lady Beauchamp, asking for her intervention on
her behalf. StUl the dispute between husband and wife increased,
so much so, that on the nth of May, Matthew Caldicott, Lord Dorset's
favourite attendant, came down with the request that she would send
back to her husband her wedding ring. In return, he appears to have
sent her what she calls the wedding ring that " my Lord Treasurer
and my old Lady " were married with, and there was probably some
secret significance in the fact that he demanded her ring, and gave her
this one that she might wear it, but declined to permit her to wear
the one she had received on her wedding day. Her own particular
attendant or secretary, Mr. Marsh, who in later da57s was made one
of the stewards of her Westmoreland estates, also tried to persuade
her to consent to Lord Dorset's proposals.
During this time. Lord Dorset was enjoying himself in London,
having, as she said " an infinite great resort coming to him." He went
much abroad, she adds, " to Cocking, to BowUng AIle57s, to Plays,
and to Horse Races, and was commended by all the world." Some-
times he was very successful. On one occasion, one of his Gentlemen
Ushers, who is spoken of sometimes as Grosvenor, and sometimes as
Grosvenor Grey Dick, came down to Knole and told her that Lord
Dorset had the previous night won ^200 at the cocking match, and
that Lord Essex and Lord Willoughby, who were on his side had also
won a great deal, and that after the match was over, there had been
" some unkind words " passed between Lord Dorset and his companions
and Sir WUham Herbert," who was his opponent, and his. Not only
did he carry on this sort of amusement in London, but he was
frequently to be heard of in Lewes, where there must have been regular
'^ Afterwards (1629) Lord Fowls of Powis Castle.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 93
race meetings at that time. During this very month to which we are
referring Lady Anne speaks of a great meeting at Lewes, when Lord
Compton, Lord Mordaunt,^' Tom Neville, Lord Herbert, and others,
whom she terms "all that crew" were with him, together "with
Walter Raleigh and a multitude of such company." She says that
on that occasion " bull-baiting, bowling, cards, dice, and suchlike
sport," entertained the company. It is evident that Lord Dorset
was devoted to sport, and exceedingly popular amongst his associates,
always ready to spend money, and to enjoy himself and give them
pleasure. The King also was partial to cock-fighting, and one of the
reasons why Lord Dorset was so popular with King James was because
of this mutual interest, and also because Lord Dorset gave to His
Majesty many opportunities of winning money from him. " There
was during this time " says Lady Anne " much Cock Fighting at the
Court where my Lord's Cocks did fight against the King's, altho'
tlais business was sonewhat Chargeable [costly] to my Lord, yet it
brought him into great grace and favour with the King as he useth
him very kindly and speaketh very often to him than of other man."
The contrast between the husband and wife was at this time very
marked. He was amusing himself in London ; she says " I stayed
in the country, having many times a sorrowful and heavy heart, and
being condemned by most folk because I would not consent to all
these agreements, so as I may truly say I am like an owl in the desert."
Then once more. Lord Dorset tried to exercise his personal influence
and came down to Knole with her cousin Cecily Neville, but would
not use his own room that night, but lay in what she calls the " Leslie
chamber." After supper, they had a long talk, and rather pathetically
she explains that Matthew Caldecott, her Lord's favourite attendant,
was present in the room all the time, and took Lord Dorset's part in the
whole affair. She would not consent, they fell out, and so parted for that
night. The following day Lord Dorset had another idea, that perhaps a
compromise could be arranged, by which Lady Cumberland should pass
over her jointure to him, if he would promise to give her for it every
year as much as it was worth, and so he would get into his own hands
some of the lands in Westmoreland. There is some evidence that his
idea was that when once he got the lands into his possession, he would
" Fifth Lord and in 1638 Earl of Peterborough,
94 Lady Anne.
immediately sell them to Lord Cumberland. Meantime, to increase
all her difficulties, Lady Anne heard of the serious illness of her mother.
" Upon the 17th, my mother sickened as she came from Prayers,
being taken with a cold chUliness in the manner of an ague, which
afterwards turned to great heat and pains in her side." To this note
she adds that, after Lady Cumberland's death, the body was opened,
and " it was plainly seen she had an imposthume.^^ " The letters
that came from the North told her that her mother was exceedingly
ill, they thought in some danger of death, and so she sent up a servant
to London with some letters to be sent to her, and certain " Cordials
and Conserves." A few days afterwards, Lady Cumberland's own
footman, Thomas Petty, brought some letters to her from Brougham,
but not in her mother's own handwriting, " by which," sa}^ she,
" I perceived how very sick and full of grievious pains my dear Mother
was, as she was not able herself to write to me, and most of her People
about her feared she would hardly recover this Sickness. At Night
I went out and prayed to God, my only Helper, that she might not die
in this pitiful case." With all her troubles, it is no wonder that she
tells us, " I used to rise early in the morning, and go to the Standing
in the garden, and taking my prayer book with me, beseech God to
be merciful to me in this, and to help me as he always hath done."
For a while, the news about Lady Ciunberland was a Uttle more
satisfactory, and there seemed no particular obstacle in the way for
this fresh proposal with regard to the jointure lands. In consequence
Marsh was sent up with letters conveying the proposal, and these
letters Lady Anne tells us were left unsealed, because Marsh was to
come through London, and show them to Lord Dorset on his way.
To her great joy, a servant (Davy) brought her news that her mother
had recovered of the dangerous sickness, but almost following upon
this piece of information, came the still later news that Lady Cumber-
land had passed away. " Upon the 24th," says she, " being Friday,
between the hours of six and nine at night, died my dear Mother at
Brough£im, in the same chamber where my father was born, I being
26 years old and five months, and the child two years old, wanting a
month. ' ' It was the greatest trouble that could possibly have happened
to her, and it appears to have been accentuated for the first day or two
M Tumour.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 95
by the fact that by Lady Cumberland's will, she had appointed that
her body should be buried in the parish church of Ahiwick, whereas
Lady Anne had always hoped that it would be buried either at
Appleby or at Skipton, and she took this as a sign that she was going
to be dispossessed of the inheritance of her forefathers, and started
at once to discuss with Sir William Selby ^® the erection of a memorial
chapel at Alnwick. She sent the will to Lord Dorset, who was then
at Lewes, and it was probably the very document which now rests
at Appleby Castle, and in which it is declared that the body was to
be buried at Alnwick, but which was superseded by a later wiU in which
Lady Cumberland sedd that she was to be buried wherever her daughter
desired. She died. Lady Anne says, " Christianly and willingly,
often repeating a little before her death, that she desired to be dissolved
and to be in the Heavenly Jerusalem." In another reference
she says of her mother that she had been compared by a great divine
to " a Seraphim in her ardent love of God," and that he, who was a
connection of Lady Cumberland's, " thought it more happiness to be
descended from so blessed a woman, than to be bom heir to a great
kingdom." The Bishop of St. David's was her great comforter in
her sorrow and a constant visitor at Knole.
Her mother's decease altered evers^thing with regard to her position,
and the whole question of the land had to be brought up anew.
It released certain lands which had belonged to Lady Cumberland as
her jointure, and these would now fall in to her brother-in-law.
Apparently Lord Dorset came to the conclusion that it was a pity to
lose the whole of this property, but had an idea that perhaps he might
arrange for these jointure lands to be resettled upon his wife. He
therefore left Lewes, where he was entertaining " a merry crowd,"
and hurried off to Knole, and then he and his wife journeyed up to
London. He decided to send letters in his wife's name demanding
that the jointure lands should be held for him, as her representative,
and he brought some pressure to bear upon her, eventually persuading
her to sign a deed conveying the rights over these jointure lands to
him, if she should die without heirs of her body, but securing them to
her daughter, Margaret, after his death. They evidently arrived
at a compromise with regard to this particular part of the estate, and
u Knight ol Winlatoa and Wbiteliouse.
g6 Lady Anne.
her husband promised to be " kind and good to her." " In the
afternoon," says she, " I wrought stitch work, and my Lord sat and
read by me." and then it was that she speaks about her perusal of the
Faerie Queene.^" and of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, ^^ and of the way
in which she w£is studying the works of Josephus,^* and reading with
the clergjmian at Knole the book of the Chronicles of her own family.
Husband and wife had now made up their quarrel. They attended
church together at St. Bride's, they went by water to Greenwich to
see Lady Bedford, and they put in another appearance at Court,
where the queen, says Lady Anne, " used me exceeding well." Still,
however. Lord Dorset harped upon the question of giving up all
claim to the Craven estate, and tried to persuade his wife to consent
to the King's arbitration, and got so far as to bring her into the royal
presence, when the matter was discussed, but again she refused to agree,
and this put her husband, she says, " in a great chaffe." The jointure
lands, however, reverted in regular fashion to Francis, Earl of Cum-
berland, but he seems, actuig luider the advice of his son, to have
shown almost indecent haste in taking possession of them, thus
frustrating the efforts of Lord Dorset to secure the reversion of these
estates for his wife. Lady Cumberland had died on the 24th of May.
She was not buried till the nth of July, but there is in existence an
important letter from Francis, Earl of Cumberland, dated the 12th of
June, apologising to the Lords in Council for " his haste " in taking
" possession of the estates," and from this it is evident that the moment
Lady Cumberland had died, his agent had taken possession. The
Earl writes that he had been most careful not to give offence, that he
had understood that Lord Dorset was going to make a legal compro-
mise and accept the King's award, and then goes on to say, " Touching
Brougham, the chief house where she lived and died, in which were
all the goods she had of any value, I held the deceased corpse in that
reverence, as I forbid them utterly to meddle with that house, nor
have they attempted to enter there at all, but for the other, Appleby,
where neither she nor any other for her, did inhabit for these two years
last at least, but such as entered after her death without warrant,
20 Editions in 1590, 1596, 1609 and i6n, the last two in folio.
^ Perhaps the folio edition of 1599, printed by Walde-graue, or the earlier one§ of 1590 ,
1593 or 1598.
^ liodge's translation 1602 or 1609.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 97
my instruction to my people was to enter peaceably and hold it quietly
for my use, yet I though fit to send my son the better to know the
truth." Meantime, instructions had been sent down to Westmoreland
that Lady Cumberland's body was to be " wrapped in lead," till the
servants had full instructions, and Lord Dorset seems to have
taken every possible precaution in order to obtain possession
of the jointure lands, " By the advice of his learned Counsel," says
Lady Anne, " he had sent a Letter down into Westmoreland to my
Lady's servants and Tenants to keep possession for him and me,
which was a thing I Uttle expected, but gave mee much contentment."
There were certain legal steps that it was necessary for Lady Anne
to take. At once, however, she objected to signing the papers,
fearing they would commit her to an unknown position, and there
was a disturbance between husband and wife in London, ending
in her being sent down to Knole, as she says " upon half an hour's
warning," "along with Katherine Burton about eight o'clock at night,
so that it was twelve before we came to Knole." Then down came
the Steward, Legge, with further messages, and with him she " had
much talk at this time, so as I gave him better satisfaction and made
him conceive a better opinion of me than ever he did," and then, to
compose her mind, she set to work and " I wrought very hard, and
made an end of one of my cushions of Irish stitch-work." A couple
of days after, the Queen's Serjeant, Amherst,^' and another lawyer
arrived with the conveyance of the jointure lands, but she refused to
execute them, feehng indignant with her husband for having sent
her away so suddenly without proper explanation, and so, fsiiling
their persuasion. Lord Dorset came down himself, and, says she,
" persuaded me to consent to his Business," and " assured me how
kind and good a Husband he would be to me." Gaining her consent,
they all travelled up to London, and upon the 20th she came before
" Lord Hobart " ^* and signed the deeds passing over the Westmoreland
inheritance to Lord Dorset, failing any heirs of her own body, when
he wrote letters to Lord William Howard, which he sent off by
Mr. Marsh, and assured her that " the possession of Brougham Castle
^ Bencher of Gray's Inn, grandfather of the first baron.
^ Almost certainly Sir Henry, ist baronet, at that time a Chief Justice and probably called
^rd Hobart in common parlance,
If
g8 Lady Anne.
should be most carefully looked to." He went down to Horsley in
Surrey to see his little girl, and she remained in London. A few days
later, she succeeded in persuading him to allow her to go to her mother's
funeral, but before doing so, they went off to Court " upon the 30th
being Sunday. Presently after Dinner, my Lady Robert Rich, my
Cousin Cecily Neville and I went down by Barge to Greenwich, where
in the Gsdlery there passed some unkind words between my Lady
KnoUes and me. I took my Leave of the Queen and aU my Friends
here, about this time, it was agreed upon between my Lord and me
that Mrs. Bathurst should go away from the Child and that WUloughby
should have the Charge of her, till I should appoint it otherwise, and
he gave me his faithful promise that he would come after me into
the north as soon as he could, and that the child should come out of
Hand, so that my Lord and I were never greater Friends than at this
time." One more deed had to be signed, transferring again to Lord
Dorset the " thirds " of his estate to which she was entitled by dower,
and he undertook in return that next Michaelmas he would make
her a fuU jointure in proper legal f2ishion. So then she started off.
Lord Dorset bringing her to the coach, " where we had a loving and
kind parting." As soon as she arrived at Brougham, another difficulty
occurred. She had word from the authorities in Appleby to say that,
owing to the want of certain legal documents, the body could not be
buried in St. Lawrence's Church. She sent her steward into Appleby
to try to make the necessary arrangements, and eventually he was
successful, so that about eight o'clock in the morning "we set forward,
the Body going in my Lady's own coach, with four Horses, and mjraelf
following it in my own Coach with two Horses, and most of the men and
women on Horseback, so that there was about forty in the company,
and we came to Appleby about half an hour after Eleven, eind about
twelve the Body was put into the Ground." By three o'clock in the
afternoon, she was back again at Brougham, and almost at once
found herself in a very hotbed of disputes. The tenants were
beginning to carry the hay from the ground in WhinfeU Park and round
about it, and were evidently prepared to make terms with her,
thinking, that she would succeed to these jointure lands, but she
carefully instructed them to keep their money in their own hands,
mitil it was known who had a right to it. She sent some of her own
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 99
people, however, to make hay in one particular park, where they
were at once interrupted by Lord Cumberland's tenantry, and there
ensued a free fight, two of his people being hurt by one of her tenants,
and as the injuries occurred, one in the leg and the other in the foot,
it seems likely that the fight took place with the very implements
used in the hay-making. The disturbance was of a serious character.
Complaint was made to the judges, who happened to be in Carlisle,
and a warrant was issued for bringing her servants, who were bound
over on surety, to appear at the assizes. The first day of the next
month, the two judges, Bromley ^^ and Nicholls, came to Brougham
on their way to Carlisle, and seem in some informal fashion to have
settled the matter and released her servants from appearing before
them, so much so, that her cousin John Dudley, a friend of Lord
William Howard, at supper a couple of nights afterwards, told her
that she had given " very good satisfaction to the Judges and all the
Company that was with them."
The only proprietorial act which she carried out at this time was
the signing of a warrant " for the killing of a stag on Stainmoor,"
and this she specially records, and notes that it was the first warrant
of that kind which she had " ever signed." Meantime, Lord Dorset
was enjoying himself in London, but aU was not going quite as well
for him as he had wished, for " about this time," says she, " Acton
Curvett, my Lord's chief footman, lost his race to my Lord of Salisbury,
and my Lord lost 200 twenty shiUing pieces by betting on his side,"
It was probably a contest between the two noblemen as to whose
servant was the better runner ^* of the two.
The King had already interposed with regard to the jointure, but
upon August II, 1616, Mr. Marsh came down from London, bringing
a letter signed by King James, to say that for the present. Lady Anne
was not to be " molested in Brougham Castle," all things were going
well, and Lord Dorset himself was coming to Westmoreland.
Accordingly, some ten days afterwards, he arrived, with " a great
Company of Horses." Lady Anne met him at " Appleby Town's
End," joined him and Lord William Howard in the coach, and so
they came on to Brougham. She details the names of several servants
^ Sir Edward Bromley, Puisne Baron of the Exchequer.
'• It was in the days, of course, of " running footman,"
100 Lady Anke.
who accompanied him, his Gentleman, Thomas Glenham, of course
was there, there was another attendant named Coventry and the one
who bore the curious name of Grosvenor Grey Dick. Then there
were three or four maids belonging to the laundry-maid's table, notably
Prudence Bucher and Bess Dorey, and there was Penelope Tutty,
who was Lady Margaret's own maid ; but the hangings for the rooms,
and the accommodation for sleeping, mattresses, etc. did not arrive
at the same time, and so she says the servants " were fain to lie three
and four in a bed that night." Next day she had the bed chamber
arranged where Lady Cumberland had died, and doubtless removed
all the black hangings which had been put up ia it. In lieu of them
she put, so she tells us, " the green velvet bed," and there she and
her husband rested. Thej^ became so friendly that upon Saturday,
" My Lord," says she, " showed me his wUl, whereby he had given
all his lands to the child, saving three thousand five hundred a year
to his brother Sackville, and £1,500 a year, which was appointed for
payment of his debts," but it entirely exempted from any charges
her jointure, " which was a matter I little expected." A couple
of days afterwards Henry, Lord CUfford, arrived at Appleby, but with
a far less train than Lord Dorset, and then came trouble, for the
attendants of the two noblemen began to quarrel, and fell to blows,
and she says that Grosvenor Grey Dick, the Gentleman Usher, Tod,
and Edwards the Secretary " drawing their swords, made a great
uproar in the town, and three or four were hurt." One of the
men went to ring the bell, in order to draw attention to this disturbance,
and he feU from the ladder " and was sore hurt."
It was anticipated that difficulties would ensue with regard to
the property, between the servants of Lord Dorset and those of the
Earl of Cumberland, and while these pages were passing through the
press, the discovery has been made at Althorp of an interesting letter
to Lord Walden, the Deputy Lieutenant to the Justices of the Peace
in Westmoreland, by the Privy Council, concerning the possibility of
such difi&culties. The letter, which is quaintly worded, reads thus : —
A tre to y« lo: Walden" deputie lieuetennte & Justices of the peace in
Westmland.
*' Theophilus, 2nd Earl of Suffolk and 2nd Baron Howard de Walden (1584-1640), summoned
to tbe House of I/>rds in bis father's life-time as Lord Howard de Walden,
Lady Anne's First Marriage. loi
Whereas informacon was made unto us that some trouble & contention was
like to arise betweene the servants & officers of our very good lorde the E: of
Combreland and Dorcett concerning the Castles of Browham & Apleby
in the Countie of Westrtiland and the possesion thereof upon the death
of the late Countesse Dowager of Cumbreland where upon wee wrote our
tres of the 4 of this present requiring yo" to give speciall order for the
p'venting of violent & unlawful Courses that might be moved by pte
to the disturbance of his Ma*® peace, And that thinges might remaine & continue
in quiet & peaceable manner until the right either Concerning possion or any
other thing in difEerence betweene them should be determyned by due course of
la we since w""" time wee have bene informed that the servants & people of the
Erie of Cumbreland have forceibly broken up the dores & windowes of the
Castle of Apleby where diverse servants & goods of the late Countesse were who
w"" strong hand have putt all the said Erie of Dorcette Agents w<='' kept posses-
sion for him out of the possession hereof & detaine the said Castle from the said
Erie of Dorsett. Forasmuchas it is reasonable & just that the Castles & houses
where the goods of the late Countesse are or were at her death shold be kept
from violence These are therefore to pray & require yo» furthw"" upon the receipt
thereof to give p'sent order that the Castle of Apleby & all things therein may
be & remayne in the same state as they were the next day after the death of yo
late Countesse And also that the Castle of Browham do continue & remayne in
the state as it was at the same time w*''out violence or breach of peace untUl by
a legall proceeding the right be decyded w'"" is left freely to either ptie & so &c.
Dated 7 of June 1616.
Signed by the
L: Archbushop of Cairterbury.
L: Treasurer. L: Chamberlaine.
L: Privie seale. L: Vise: fenton.
L: Duke of Lenox. Mr. Secretary Winwood.
Mr. Secretary Lake.
As regards the Dorsets themselves, things now quieted down. She
made an end, she says, of " dressing the house," and then " in the
afternoon, I wrought stitch- work and my Lord sat and read by me."
Shortly afterwards. Lord Dorset went home again, journeying by way
of York, where he stayed for four or five nights, because at that time
Lord Sheffield, afterwards Earl of Mulgrave, and the President of the
North; was in residence, and Lord Dorset pleaded for the jointure
lands before the Lord President, but was opposed by Lord Cumberland
and his son. It does not appear that any immediate decision was
arrived at, and so Lady Anne stayed for a while at Brougham, but
apparently not with much pleasure, because, having made friends
to» Lady Ann£.
with her husband, she was anxious to be back again near to him|
and early in September wrote to suggest that she should come to
London. She tells us that a little later on she started to wear her
" Black Silk Grogram Gown," and explains what she was doing while
in Brougham, how she used to ride into Whinfell in the afternoon,
and give up a great deal of time to working and reading, specially
making cushions of Irish stitchwork, and that she employed those
about her to read to her, Mr. Dumbell reading part of the History of
the Netherlands,^® and Rivers and Marsh reading Montaigne's Essays.^*
She used to rise very early in the morning, go up to the Tower to say
her prayers and " see the sun rise," and then spend most of the day
in the "Drawing Chamber" at her work. Eventually she left
Brougham in December, going herself to York, and gi\Tng up complete
possession of Brougham Castle, for the legal decision by that time had
gone against her, and the property was " wholly deUvered up to my
uncle of Cumberland and his son from the 29th day of March, 1617,
and they kept it from me tiU their decease."
While she was away. Lord Dorset had been getting into fresh trouble.
There had been a quarrel between him and Lord Clifford, and he
had challenged Lord Clifford to a duel. The affair had come to the
ears of the King, and they were both called before the Lords of the
Council, and then the King " made them friends, giving my Lord
marvellous good words, and wiUed him to send for me, because he
meant to make an agreement between us." It is very likely that
this quarrel had arisen in connection with the festivities which were
going on at Court at this time. Prince Charles had been created
Prince of Wales in the great hall at Whitehall, and, says Lady Anne
" there was banners and nmning at the ring, but it was not half so
great a pomp as it Wcis at the creation of Prince Henry." Just then,
she tells us that the Lord Chancellor *" wels made Viscount Brackley,
Lord Knollys '^ was given a step in the peerage, and created Viscount
Wallingford, and that Lord Cook,*^ replaced Lord Montague ^^ as Lord
" By S. Grimestoue, 1608, folio ; printed by Islip & Eld., many portraits.
** Printed by John Florio, 1603, folio ; witli plate by Martin Droeshout.
"• Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Ellesmere, whose son became Earl of Bridgwater.
» William, Lord Knollys of Grey, K.G., afterwards Earl of Banbury.
^ Sir Edward Coke, 06. 1633.
>* Sic Heiury created Baron Montague 1620, and Earl of Manchester 1626.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 103
Chief Justice. She was to return to London in proper state, some of
the servants, specially a cook, a baker and Tom Fool being sent up to
London to make preparations, and Basket, one of Lord Dorset's chief
of&cers, was despatched with the coach and horses to Brougham to
fetch her to London. The coach itself was not brought all the way
to Brougham, but was left at Rose Castle, and Lady Anne went on
horseback " on Rivers' mare " (the horse that fell into the water on
her journey down) some twenty-seven miles the first day, to Rose
Castle, and then went on to York, where " three of Lord Sheffield's
daughters, and Mrs. Matthews, the Bishop's wife," came to see her.
Just before she left, she had been to see a Mr. Blentro '* at his house in
Cumberland, and had inspected " the House and Gardens " and
" stayed an hour or two " and heard some music. While staying at
Brougham, she tells us that she had spent part of her time playing
at Tables, that she used to walk on the leads and hear reading, that
she employed herself by stringing together into a necklace " the pearls
and diamonds left her by her mother," and during this time she wore
her " black Taffety dress with the yellow Taffety waistcoat." Before
she left Westmoreland, she bought a clock, and also a cloak, or as she
calls it, " a safeguard, of Cloth laced with Black Lace," to keep " me
warm on my journey."
Whilst staying at Rose Castle, she lost a diamond ring, and so had
to send back her overseer, William Punn, to try to find it. He was
fortunate enough to do so, and overtook her with the welcome in-
telligence. She also learned at this time that Lord Dorset's Auditor
and Surveyor had died and left her " a purse of ten angels as a remem-
brance of his love," and one of Lord Dorset's own men came and told
her all the details of the quarrels that had ensued between the
gentlemen " that took my Lord's part, and my cousin Clifford's,
which," says she, " did much trouble me." On arriving at Islington,
she was met by her husband " who came," says she, " in my Lady
Whitby Pole's *® coach, which he had borrowed," and accompanying
** This must be an error in copying. It is evidently meant for Mr. Blencowe or Blenco,
afterwards Sir Henry. He married Grace, sister of Sir Richard Sandford of Howgill Castle
near Blencowe Hall, 5 or 6 miles only from Brougham.
"5 I cannot identify this lady. She was perhaps connected with Sir Wlllam Pole, the
antiquary; of the Poles of Wirrall, and the word written " Whitby " (so far as it can be read)
may be meant for " Wirrall."
io4 Lady AnnE.
him were Lady Effingham, Lady Beauchamp, and a great many
more people, " so that we were in all ten or eleven coaches, and so
I came to Dorset House, where the child met me in the Gallery."
Suitable preparations had this time been made for her. " The house
was well dressed up against I came." She seems to have been partic-
ularly gratified by the sight of Lady Margaret, and by the fact that
Lord Dorset had given permission for the child to be brought to her
in the Gallery. " It was," says she, " the first time I had seen her
since my mother died." Ever3rthing was now to be happy and
bright. The King had consented to take the matter in hand, and
Lord Dorset, little imderstanding the determination of his wife, felt
sure that, although she had opposed the award of the judges, she
would surely give in to the King.
She had a new " wrought taffety gown " which Lady St. John's
tailor had made for her. She had " Lady Manners " in to dress her
hair, and possibly this young lady was to become one of her personal
attendants. Then she went out with her husband and her daughter
in " the great Coach to Northampton House," to wait upon Lord
Suffolk, who was the Lord Treasurer, and her Uttle girl was evidently
highly praised, for " all the company commended her, and she went
down in my Lady Walden's '* chamber, where my cousin Clifford
saw her and kissed her, but I stayed with my Lady Suffolk. All this
time," she adds, " of my being at London, I was much sent to and
visited by many, it being unexpected that ever matters should have
gone so well with me and my Lord, everybody persuading me to hear
and make an end since the King had taken the matter in Hand."
Various people were preparing a smooth way for her. Lady Cecily
Compton and Lady Fielding ^' were sent to tell her that she was to
come shortly before the King. She and her husband went to call
upon Lady Arundel,'® another important friend at Court, and " saw
all the Pictures and Statues in the Lower Rooms," and feeling that it
was desirable that she should take some steps in the right direction,
she sent T^iomas Woodgate, the Yeoman of the Great Chamber, with
»• Probably the wife of Sir William, created in 1620 Earl of Denbigh.
" Probably Elizabeth daughter of George, Earl of Dunbar and wife of Theophilus, who sat
in the House of Lords as Lord Howard de Walden during the lifetime of his father, the Earl
of Suffolk.
''Wife of Thomas Howard, second Earl of Arundel, the great collector.
Lady Anne's First MARRiAGie. io5
a " Sweet bagge " to the Queen for a New Year's gift, and also gave
a " standish to Mrs. Hanns," who was perhaps woman of the Bed-
chamber, and records the fact that the two gifts cost her about sixteen
or seventeen pounds.
Upon New Year's Day, 1617, she went to Court to Somerset House,
where she met Lady Derby, Lady Bedford,^' and many other people,
and where Lady Arundel did her best to persuade her " to yield to
the King in all things." As the King passed through the rooms on his
way to the Queen's apartments, he " kissed her," and then the Queen
came out into the Dra^ving Chamber, and, says she, " she kissed me
and used me very kindly." " This was the first time I ever saw the
King, Queen, or Prince," she adds, " since they came out of the North."
She paid a few other calls, tells us that she went to Essex House to
see Lady Northumberland, to the Tower to visit Lord and Lady
Somerset *" [she had already been in the Court on their arraignment'],
and was present when Lord Villiers was created Earl of Buckingham,
and saw the play of " The Mad Lover " at Whitehall. Finally, on
Twelfth Day, she went again to Court with Lady Arundel, and with
her and Lady Pembroke, ate what she calls " a Scrambling Supper "
at the Duke of Buckingham's rooms, and then went to see the meisque
with Lady Ruthven, and had to stand by reason of the crowd. The
King was, after aU, not able to see her for a few days, and so
she left London for Knole, not quite in the easiest frame of mind,
because en route she and her husband had another controversy. They
did not even sit together on arriving at Knole. She had Mr. Sandys'
book about the Government of the Turks *^ read to her in her room,
he spent most of the time reading in his own room, and then suddenly
went up to London, and did not let his wife know that he had left
" until the afternoon." A week later, she had a letter from him,
saying that she was to come up to London at once, because the King
would receive her.
Then came the first interview with King James. It took place on
a Saturday. After dinner, she went to the Queen in the Di;awing
39 Lucy, Coimtess of Bedford in whose praise Donne and Daniell both made verses " of
elaborate conceit."
*" Of the " sweet and bewitching countenance."
" George Sandys' description of his journey to Turkey in 1610, issued in 1615, folio.
io6 Lady Anne.
Chamber.'and Lady Derby explained the whole state of affairs to Her
Majesty, when the Queen promised she would do all the good in it
that she could, but gave Lady Anne warning not to trust the matter
absolutely to the King " lest," said she, " he shoidd deceive me.''
While in the Queen's apartments, she was sent for, and she and Lord
Dorset went through the Duke of Buckingham's room, and he brought
them up to the King, and then everybody else was put out of the room,
and she and her husband kneeled by the side of the King's chair,
" and he persuaded us both to Peace and to put the whole matter
wholly into his Hands, which my Lord consented to, but I beseeched
His Majesty to pardon me, for that I would never part from West-
moreland while I Hved, upon any condition whatever. Sometimes,"
she sa)^, " he used fair means and persucisions, and sometimes foul
means, but I was resolved before so as nothing would move me."
When they left the King they went again to see the Queen, and then,
going on to Lady St. John, returned home. Lord Dorset seems to
have been a little afraid as to what action the King might have taken,
for his wife writes thus " At this time I was much bound to my Lord,
for he was kinder to me in all these Businesses than I expected, and
was very unwilling that the King should do me any public Disgrace."
Neither the King nor Lord Dorset, however, were satisfied with this
first interview, and both were determined to make another and a more
strenuous effort to obtain Lady Anne's consent to the award. People
about the Court were evidently taking sides in the matter, many of
them supporting the King and Lord Dorset, and others disposed to
support Lady Anne, especially when they saw that the Queen was
continuing to stand her friend, and was advising her not to leave the
matter entirely in the King's hands.
A few days after the last interview, she says that " my Lord and I
went to the Court in the morning, thinking the Queen would have
gone to the chapel, but she did not, so my Lady Ruthven *^ and many
*^ It is not easy to determine who is the person referred to as Lady Ruthven. It is almost
certainly one of three daughters of William, first Earl of Gowrie, sisters to James, the second
earl, and to John, the third and last earl. There are allusions in the State Papers (Domestic
Series) to the fact that three of the Ruthvens, Lady Beatrix, Lady lilias, and Lady Barbara,
were all ladies of the Bedchamber to Queen Anne, but it is not clear whether they occupied
these positions in succession, or at the same time. It is, however, implied that more than
one daughter was at one time a Lady-in- Waiting. Furthermore, there is an allusion to the
fact that Lady Beatrix was a great favourite of Queen Anne, and it is said that she was the
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 1:07
others stood in the closet to hear the sermon." Then she went to
dine with Lady Ruthven, and after dinner went up to the Drawing
Chamber, where Lord Burleigh, the Dowager Lady Dorset, and Lady
Montgomery, all entered into conversation with her, trying to persuade
her not only to refer her business to the King, but to accept His
Majesty's decision. That particular night, the masque, which has al-
ready been mentioned, was danced at the Court, but she did not stay
to see it, because she " had seen it already." The following day, there
was another and even more important audience with the King.
First of all Lord Dorset went to King James, and presented his view
of the matter. Meantime, his wife was with Lady Ruthven, and then,
about eight o'clock in the evening, she was sent for, and was taken
into the King's Drawing Chamber, where she found a small party
assembled. Her uncle Cumberland and his son Lord Clifford were
there. Lord Arundel, who was Lord Dorset's great friend, Lord Pem-
broke and Lord Montgomery. The Lord Chief Justice and the king's
solicitor were present on behalf of the king, and the counsel who was
representing Lord and Lady Dorset, Sir Ranulph Crewe,** was also
heroine of the story respecting the ribbon which was found round the neck of the Master of
Ruthven, and that it was Lady Beatrix who removed the ribbon and returned it to the Queen,
before King James was able to reach his wife's room. On the other hand, there is a tradition
that the heroine of this story was her sister, Lady Barbara. Lady Lilias died before her father ,
and seems, so far as we can ascertain, to have been a Lady-in- Waiting for a far shorter time
than either of her sisters. There are several references to Lady Barbara. In 1603, there is
recorded the fact, in the State Papers, that she received an annuity for her " relief " and
" transportation in consideration of her distress," the dociuuent goes on to state, " because,
though her family is hateful, on account of their abominable attack against the King, she has
shown no malicious designs." Just before that record, there is recorded a warrant for her
apprehension, dated April 27th. In 1619, there appears a petition from her for the arrears
of five years of her pension, which she greatly desires " to pay her debts or prefer her in marriage "
and upon payment of this amount, she said that she would go to Scotland. She, however, died
in Greenwich, for her death is there recorded on the 29th of December, 1625. The State Papers
do not show whether the arrears of pension were ever paid. Both Lady Beatrix and Lady
Barbara appear to have been styled at the time in familiar fashion as " Lady Ruthven."
Lady Beatrix married as his second wife Sir John Home of Coldenknows, and she died before
1629, having had as issue, amongst other children, one son, who married the daughter of
George Home, Earl of Dunbar, and whose son was the third Earl of Home.
Queen Anne was devoted to the Ruthvens, and there is some reason for believing in the
story of the day, which has always been part of the traditions of the Ruthven family, that
Alexander was her lover, and the father of Charles I. King James had very strong cause to
hate the Ruthvens, because the family had injured him in many ways, and he was besides
that, heavily in their debt. It is a remarkable coincidence that he had the bodies of the two
young Ruthvens, Lord Gowrie and the Master, exhumed and exposed at the Cross at Ediaburgh
on the very day that Charles I. was bom.
"I Afterwards Chief Justice of the King's Bench.
io8 Lady Anne.
there, as well as Sir John Digby. The King formally put the question
as to whether those present would submit to his judgement. Lord
Cumberland, Lord Clifford, and Lord Dorset, all answered that they
would, " but I," says Lady Aime, " said that I would never agree to
do without Westmoreland," that is to say, that the Westmoreland
estates were to be hers, whatever happened, " at which," she adds,
" the King grew in a great chaffe." ** Then Lord Pembroke and the
King's soUcitor spoke forcibly against the position she had taken up,
and it was evident to all those who were in the room, that King James
was getting more and more excited, and greatly resented the fact
that this determined lady would not accept his decision. Later it
appears Lady Anne tore up, before the King, a letter that had been
written her, by his command, requiring her to consent. Immediately
there was the fear that King James might be led to say or do some-
thing which would have been unfortimate and so, she writes, " when
they saw there was no remedy, my Lord, fearing the King would do
me some pubUc disgrace, desired Sir John Digby would open the
door," for it had been locked, so that no one else should come in,
" and he went out with me, and persuaded me much to yield to the
King." A few minutes later. Lord Hay*^ came, the story was repeated
and he used his persuasions, and then the door was opened again and
Lord Dorset came out from the presence, and annoimced that, as his
wife would not come to any agreement, the King had decided to make
an agreement without her! His own affection for his wife had, it is
clear, led him to take a somewhat more favourable view of her
determination, for, sajre she, in concluding her reference to this day's
proceedings, " I may say I Wcis led miraculously, by God's Providence,
and next to that, I trust all my good to the worth and nobleness of
my Lord's disposition, for neither I, nor anybody else, thought I
should have passed over this day so well as I have done." Not only
did she write thus in her diary, but on the very next day, she put the
matter in writing to her husband. " I wrote a letter," says she,
" to give him humble Thanks for his Noble Usage towards me in
London."
Naturally, the controversy was the subject of a great deal of con-
*• Elstrack's print shows him " puffed out with self-conciousness."
*^ Afterwards Lord Chancellor.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 109
versation at Court. Dr. Jeffrey Amherst told her that " now they
began to think at London that I done well in not referring this matter
to the King, and that everybody salid that God had a hand in it."
Another visitor, a Mr. Osberton, told her, on the other hand, that she
was much condemned in the world, and that most folks had made
very " strange censures of her courses," while Lord Cumberland and
his son were so extremely indignant with her for her determination,
that they put about a statement in London that there were laws in
England which would entirely upset her contention, and that, as she
had refused to accept the Bang's ruling, she would now never succeed
to any of the lands. Lord Cumberland brought some stiff pressure
to bear upon Lord Dorset, and in the following month Lady Anne
records the fact that she received a letter from her husband " by
which I perceived my Lord was clean out with me, and how much
mine Enemies had wrought against me," while within a day or two
of the receipt of this letter. Rivers, one of the Gentleman Ushers,
came down from London to Knole, where at the time she was residing,
and told her that the judges had been with the King many times
discussing her business, and that the award would certainly be made,
that it would be on the lines already settled in the Court of Common
Pleas, but in all probability more definitely against her than even
that award had been. Lord William Howard, who has frequently
been mentioned as supporting Lord Dorset in his contentions, was
at this time beginning to realise that his cousin had some right on her
side, and apparently he ventured to speak in her favour, for a quarrel
ensued between him and Lord Dorset. " My Lord did nothing so
often come to Lord WiUiam as heretofore," and the friendship between
them " grew cold, my Lord beginning to harbour some ill opinion of
him."
The scene changes then for a while from London to Knole, while
the lawyers and judges were having various consultations with the
King, and preparing to decide that the young Countess should finally
be deprived of her land. Meantime, she was down at Knole, and
her Day-by-Day book contains interesting items of domestic infor-
mation concerning her own Ufe, and that of the little Lady Margaret.
The child was not at all strong — she speaks about her having fits of the
ague several times, on one occasion so severely that " I was fearful
no Lady Anne.
of her that I could hardly sleep all night, so I beseeched God Almighty
to be merciful unto me, and spare her life." It was probably con-
vulsions rather than ague, and these convulsions were severe, for on
one occasion, she says, they lasted for six or seven hours. Then she
tells us about the child's clothes, mentioning the first time that Lady
Margaret had put on her red baize coat, and on another, speaking of
the first coat which the child had worn that was decorated with lace,
and this also appears to have been made of red material. Lady
Margaret's first velvet coat, one of " Crimson velvet laced with Silver
Lace " had been given to her, so says her mother — on New Year's
Day, 1619. She sets down that on the ist May she had cut the
child's strings off from her coats, and made her " use togs " alone,
" so that," she adds, " she had two or three falls at first, but was
not hurt by them," while Margaret's old clothes were given to the
steward of the house, Mr. Legge, for him to give to his wife, who
evidently had a little girl of about the same age. She also records
the fact that a certain Thomas Woodgate came once from London,
and brought a squirrel for Lady Margaret, and that seems to have
pleased the child very much, and then she tells us all about the changes
that were made in the little girl's room, and that now the winter was
over, the curtain was put up to let in the hght and the air, for the
room had been close shut up for three weeks or a month before, part
of the curious old arrangement that, during the winter or when a person
was iU, it was desirable to keep back as much light and air as possible
from the bed chamber. Lady Margaret was at this time being taught
to ride, and a piebald nag had been sent to her out of Westmoreland,
while Lady Arundel had given her mother a Dapple Grey Mare she
much desired, so that on several occasions she and her mother were
able to ride out together. Early in the spring, there is an allusion
to an entire change of weather. " The child," says she, " had put
on her white coats, and put off many things from her head, the
weather growing extreme hot," and just at this time. Lady Margaret
seems to have moved from her room to her mother's and Lady Anne
describes with much satisfaction the fact that her little girl was
sleeping at night in her own bed with her, and that this was the first
time she had been able to have the pleeisure of the child's company.
Even such smaU matters a§ those connected with the child's teeth
Lady Anne's First Marriage, m
were recorded. " On the nth we perceived that the child had two
great teeth come," says her mother, " so that in all she had now i8,"
and there is particular reference to the occasions when the Dowager
Lady Dorset came down to see the child, and incidentally, to see her
mother, and to putting little Lady Margaret for the first time into
" a whalebone boddice," while on several occasions there are allusions
to the fact that Lady Anne had written to her husband, speaking
about little Lady Margaret, and begging that he would come down
and see her.
As regards her own life, she seems, as usual, to have spent a great
deal of the time either in needlework or in reading, or in having books
read to her. She says that Rivers was reading Montaigne's Essays "
to her, and Moll Neville the Faerie Queene.*' She refers to the fact
that Mr. Rand ** frequently read the Bible to her and that she herself
was carefully going through the chronicles of the Clifford family,
which were being written up by Mr. Marsh, and reading them with
all possible care. There are many allusions to the gossip of the day,
for information being brought to her from time to time as to what
was going on in London, she learned that her sister-in-law. Lady Cecily
Compton, and her husband, had been quarrelling, that they had left
Horsley and had gone to London, and that they were about to
separate, when she was to have a hundred a year and the child, and
he, the remainder of the income. Then she heard of a difficulty that
had happened with regard to Lord Willoughby's brother, Mr. Bertie,*'
or, as she spells it " Burtie," who had been travelling in Italy, and
had got into some difficulty in Ancona, and had been put into prison
by the Inquisition, and also of a great entertainment given to the
king by Baron de Joeniers at Salisbury House. She was informed
that the King had put in an appearance in the Star Chamber, and had
promulgated certain very definite instructions respecting duels, and
combats, and that her husband had stood by the side of the king's
chair, and had talked much with His Majesty, being at that time
" in extraordinary grace and Favour with the King." She also
*• Translated by J. Florio 1603, folio; second edit. 1613, folio.
*' Issued in 1609 by H. L. (Part I., 1590, Part II., 1596), folio.
** Perhaps Rev. Edward Randes, S.T.B., who in 1622 was rector of Hartfield, a Sackville
living.
W Probably one of the four sous of Peregrine, Lord Willoughby de Eresby.
112 Lady Anne.
refers to the fact that the Lord Chancellor had given up the seals,
and that a new Chancellor had been appointed, and twice she had
some specially direct information concerning her husband from the
fact that the Gentleman of his Horse came down to Knole first to
fetch his hunters and then for certain other horses, and to tell her
that Lord Dorset was going off for a long ride with the Prince. This
servant also conveyed the information to Lady Anne that the King
was very bitter against her, and took upon himself to advise her to
consent speedily, as otherwise, said he " it would soon be too late."
Lady Cecily Compton was at this time in some financial difficulties,
owing to the disputes with her husband, and on one occasion, she sent
over to Knole, asking for the loan of some money. It is clear that
Lady Anne did not have the control of any considerable sums, because
in response to her sister-in-law's request to borrow ^Tj, she could
only send her ten 20s. pieces. Lord Dorset had complained on several
occasions that Lady Anne paid too little attention to her clothes.
She had been wearing, she tells us, a plain green flannfel gown, made
by her overseer named WilUam Punn, and with it a yellow tafiety
waistcoat, but, " because I was found fault with for wearing siich ill
clothes, this day I put on my Grogram Gown."
Her own health is occasionally referred to, for example : — she says
on one occasion she was not very well, and so, " I ate a posset and went
to bed," and on another, that " I, not being well the time grew so tedious
that I used to go to bed at eight o'clock, and did he in bed till eight
the next morning." At length she learned that the decision, whatever
it was, had been arrived at, and her uncle and cousin had gone to
Dorset House " where my Lord and they " signed and " sealed the
writings and made a Final conclusion of my Business, and did what
they could to cut me off from my Right, but I referred my cause to
God," and then as the matter was so far settled, Lord Dorset decided
that he would come down to Knole. His servant preceded him,
and told her that " my Lord and my uncle were agreed, and the
writing sealed." By this time the King was leaving London for his
journey to Scotland, the Queen and Prince going with him as far as
Theobalds, and Lord Dorset started from town to come down into the
country. He went first to Buckhurst, but was so ill by the way that
" Jae wa? fain to aJi^ht once or twice and go into a House." He ha4
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 113
sent off all his servants, and apparently closed up the London House,
but when he reached Buckhurst, he sent over to Knole for John the
cook to come and make broth for him, and for Josiah Cooper, a French-
man, who was one of the pages, to come straight away to Buckhurst,
to wait upon him. By this servant, Lady Anne wrote a letter, " to
entreat him that, if he were not well, I might come down to Buckhurst
to him." Evidently the news in response was very unsatisfactory,
because she tells us how restless she was, for she spent the whole
day in walking in the park, " with Mrs. Judith Simpson of the laimdry
maids' table, having my Bible with me, thinking on my present
fortunes and what troubles I have passed through." The evenings
appear to have been particularly dull just at this time. She had
nothing to do but to walk about, and to play Glecko with the steward,
having, she says, such iU-luck at cards, she resolved she would not play
for two or three months. Then there comes further information
respecting Lord Dorset's health. " Ned the footman came from
Buckhurst, and told me that my Lord was reasonably well, and had
missed his fit, which did much comfort me," and she therefore wrote a
letter to him, begging that he would come over and see her and Lady
Margaret, as soon as he could. The next day, however, the steward
came from Buckhurst, and did not give so favourable an account
of Lord Dorset, saying that he was not well, and was not returning
to London at present, for he had lent his house to the Lord Keeper.
He desired that the cook, named Hortitius, and Dr. Layfield the
lawyer might be sent to Buckhurst. Meantime, Sir Edward Sackville
had written to ask for the loan of the horse-litter, in order that Lady
SackviUe, who was not very well, might be taken up to town, and
hence the visit of the steward to Knole. Lady Anne tells us that she
now occupied herself by starting a new Irish stitch cushion, but on
one occasion, she seems to have spent most of the day in making
Rosemary cakes. Then, on the 28th of March, Lord Dorset came over
from Buckhurst with his Gentleman, Thomas Glenham, but he was
stUl not very well, was troubled with a severe cough, and occupied a
room far away from her, sleeping in what she calls the Leicester
Chamber. He was evidently in an irritable state of mind because on
the following day he found her reading with Mr. Rand the chaplain,
and told her that the noise hindered him in his study, and that she
I
114 Lady Anne.
was to leave off reading aloud until she could find someone who would
read with her, and who perhaps had a quieter voice than Mr. Rand.
He told her that the settlement had not yet been fully arrived at,
" the matter was not so fuUy finished but that there was a place left
for me to come in " and in their walks abroad in the park and in the
garden, he talked a great deal to her about this particular business,
and even then strove to understand her position, and she says " He
was nothing so much discontented with this agreement as I thought
he would have been, and he was more pleased and contented with
the passages in London than I imagined he would have been " She
adds " I strove to keep as merry a face in it all as I could." It was
quite evident to her that Lord Dorset's two personal attendants,
Matthew and Lindsay, were strongly against her, and were frequently
saying things to her husband derogatory to her position. They also
made it quite clear to her that Lord WiUiam Howard and her husband
had engaged upon a serious quarrel " Lord Wilham was clean out of
all grace and trust with my Lord, which I hope," says she, " may be
the better hereafter for me and my child, knowing that God often
brings things to pass by contrary means." WTien he got better,
however. Lord Dorset went up to London, and she accompanied him
to the door of his coach, and after he had left, she found her mind
more contented " than it was before my Lord came from Buckhurst."
He did not stay in town very long, but early in the following month
of April came down again to Knole and told her that the King had
taken a very small company with him to Scotland, only having one
Lord-in-Waiting, and that her deeds had not even yet been signed,
but that the papers were all left with the Lord Keeper and Lord
Hobart,^" until next term, and then they were to be fuUy concluded.
" This," says she, " was strange news to me, I thought all matters
had been finished."
The question of her own personal money now came into the con-
troversy, and Lord Dorset told her that she had less, and was likely
to have less, than he had expected, and seems to have used this as an
argument that she should consent to giving up the Westmoreland
lands. " Sometimes I had fair words from him, and sometimes foul,
" The " upright judge " who sentenced to death " several poor women for bewitching
Lord Rutland's children."
Lady Anne's First Marriage. ii5
but I took all patiently, and did strive to give as much content and
assurance of my love as I could possibly, yet I told him that I would
never part with Westmoreland upon any condition whatever,"
adding " my promise was so far passed to my Mother and to all the
World that I would never do it whatever became of me and mine."
Her brother-in-law. Sir Edward Sackville, was at that time staying in
the house, and he had been interfering in some way between Lady
Exeter and Lord Roos, and starting difficulties that Lady Anne felt
would be the cause of considerable trouble. It would appear that she
gave Sir Edward Sackville her opinion and this did not improve his
feeling towards her. Lord Dorset was sullen and tiresome, and in
order to brighten him up, she decided that he ought to see his little
girl, and after supper, " because my Lord was suUen and unwilling
to come into the nursery, I made Mary bring the child to him into
my chamber, which was the first time she stirred abroad since she
was sick." Just at that time. Lord and Lady Dorset appear to have
been occupying the same room, but he was by no means weU, and
she occupied a little pallet with a lace cover upon it in the room, so
as to be ready to attend to him at night. This arrangement was,
however, not convenient, and a little while afterwards she went into
a room close by, which had been hitherto occupied by one of her
Gentlewomen whom she speaks of as Judith, " and there," she says,
" I intended to continue until my Lord was better," but this arrange-
ment was not satisfactory either, the room was evidently not com-
fortable, and was probably very draughty, for a day or two afterwards
she says " I w£is so sick with lying in Judith's chamber that I had a
plain fit of a fever, and my face was so swelled." Then she left that
room and occupied another room, sleeping in a " Green Cloth of Gold
bed" that she had occupied on a previous occasion, when Lord Dorset
had been in France. After a while. Lord Dorset got better, and then
was able to dine in state in the Great Chamber (now called The Cartoon
Gallery) as had previously been his habit, with all the Gentlemen of
his establishment, but he used to come and take his supper privately
with his wife in the Drawing Chamber, and then they had much
discussion of the manners of the folks at Court. He was coming to
the conclusion it was no good to try to force his wife to take up a
position that she had determined she would not adopt, and one morning
ii6 Lady Anne.
he told her that " he was resolved never to move any more in this
business, because he saw how fuUy I was bent." That being so, she
decided that she would send down letters to the tenants in Westmore-
land, presumably explaining the whole circumstance, and saying
that she was accepting for the present the adjudication that had been
made, and that they must regard Lord Cumberland as their landlord.
" The 19th I signed 33 letters with my own hand, which I sent down
to the tenants in Westmoreland, and the same night my Lord and I
had much talk of, and persuaded me to this business," sa5dng it had
not passed the Great Seal, but even now she would not consent in its
entirety to what he wanted, " I told him I would not, and yet I told
him I was in perfect charity with all the world." Again, she refers
to Matthew, Lord Dorset's attendant. " I had great falling out
with my Lord, Matthew continuing to do me all the iU office he could,"
and so the days seem to have gone on. At times ever5^hing was
favourable, they dined together, they played at Burley Brake upon
the Bowling Green, they went off in the coach to see Mr. Lewis's house,
and all the fine flowers that were in the garden, she wore her white
satin gown and her white waistcoat, he went hunting both " the fox
and the hare " and came home to her in the evening, and they went
to church together, and took the Communion together, and she used
to come sometimes of an evening in his room, and sit and read Chaucer,^^
and a Turkish History,^^ while he was at work, and then come frequent
reference to quarrels, " He and I fell out about matters," " He and I
had a great falling out," and " I wrote not to my Lord, because he
wrote not to me since he went away," and so on.
Lord Dorset decided about this time, to alter the arrangement of
many of the rooms in the house, to redecorate them, to put up new
purple stuff in the Drawing Room and the GaUery, and then, while
this work was being done, he went up to London, first of all staying at
Buckhurst for a while for some himting, and then going on to town.
The Lord Keeper had given up his tenancy of Dorset House, " and
rode from Dorset House to Westminster in great pomp and state,
most of the lords going with him, amongst which my Lord was one."
She, however, missed his company very much. " The time," she
" Bishops edition 1598 or 1602 or perhaps the Black Letter editions of 1542 or 1561, folio
'' George Sandys' relation of his journey to Turkey in i6io, issued in 1615.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 117
sa}^, " was very tedious unto me, having neither comfort nor company,
only the child," but during part of it she occupied herself in dressing
her hair " with a Roule without a wire," and in sorting through some
books and papers that came from her mother's house, and arranging
them in her room, talking with the man who had brought them,
Mr. Wolrich, about her mother and about all the northern business.
This was not very cheerful work, for she expressty says that it made
her sad, and she therefore turned her attention to more frivolous
questions, and Lady St. John sent down her tailor to take her
measurements and to make a new gown for her, and she wrote
various letters to her friends, specially mentioning that she sent to
Lady Beauchamp a lock of the child's hair, and she wrote to other
Sackvllle relations, " I being desirous to win the love of my Lord's
kindred by all the fair means that I could." The new gowns that
were made for her came down from London a Httle while afterwards,
and she specially records the fact that " I tried on my seawater green
satin gown, and my damask embroidered with gold, both of which
gowns the tailor which sent from London made fit for me to wear
with open ruffs after the French fashion." She paid a few calls in the
neighbourhood, and she also went to see a person whom she describes
as Goody Sysley, who, it is clear, had just been making cheese, for
on that occasion, they ate so much cheese there that " it made me
sick." Upon another occasion, she speaks about walking in the
garden and gathering cherries, talkmg with the French page, Josiah
Cooper, who told her that he thought all the servants in the house were
fond of her, except Lord Dorset's man " Matthew, and two or three
of his consorts." Matthew seems to have been a constant trouble —
" in the afternoon we again fell out about Matthew," and then she
wrote a letter to the Bishop of London complaining of Matthew,
and asking whether he could not interfere. Meantime, Lord Dorset
was again getting into some kind of financial difficulty. " The Steward
came from London, and told me my Lord was much discontented
with me for not doing this business, but he must find land to pay
money, which must much encumber his estate." Then his own
stepmother was discontented with her allowance. " At this time
my Lord's Stepmother did sue out of her Thirds, which was an increase
of Trouble and Discontent to my Lord," and Sir George Rivers wrote
ii8 Lady Ann^.
to tell her that " My Lord was settling his lands upon his brother,"
and that other legal arrangements were being made which, she says,
" did much perplex me." Finally, her cousin Lord Russell wrote to
tell her that Lord Dorset had cancelled her jointure, " the jointure
he had made upon me last June, when I went into the North, and
by these proceedings, I see how much my Lord is offended with me,
and that my Enemies have the upper hand of me." She resolved,
however, to take it all quietly, " and I writ a letter to my Lord, to let
hira know how ill I took the Cancelling of my Jointure, but yet told
him I was willing to bear it with patience whatsoever he thought fit."
As far £is possible. Lady Anne seems to have done her best to please
her husband so long as he would keep off the question of her estates,
but she totally decUned to consent to these estates being taken away
from her. He gradually became a Uttle more friendly, sent his new
barber, Adam Bradford, " to trim the Child's hair " and sent her some
venison, " and my Lord writ me a letter," she says " between kindness
and imkindness," but all this careless behaviour worried her not a
little. " On Whitsunday " she says, " we all went to church, but
my eyes were so blubbered with weeping that I could scarce look up."
A few days later she records the fact that she rode on horseback to
Witham, " to see my Lord Treasurer's Tomb,^' and went down into
the Vault, and came home again, weeping the most part of the day,
seeing my Enemies had the upper hand of me." On yet another
occasion she sa5rs " I was extremely melancholy and sad to see things
go so iU with me, fearing my Lord would give all his land away from
the child." After a while. Lord Dorset came down again to Knole
for a day or two, and then went up to London to the christening of
Sir Thomas Howard's child, when he was going to stand godfather
with the Prince of Wales, and on that occasion, would be meeting his
brother. Sir Edward Sackville, whom Lady Anne dishked intensely,
for she was quite sure that Sir Thomas Howard and Sir Edward
Sackville would then exercise their influence upon her husband " hoping
to do me and my child a good deal of hurt." In July, 1617, the King's
award was actually issued.^* The previous few days. Lady Anne
had been ill, and had written to her husband desiring him to come
" The first Earl of Dorset, ob. 1608. The tomb was destroyed in the fire at Wthyham.
M See abstract in the Appendix.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 119
dovm, because she found herself in such poor health. She was com-
plaining of a good deal of pain in her side, " which I took," says she,
" to be the spleen." Then came the award, brought down to her
by Marsh, and two days she spent in penismg it and the other writmgs
that accompanied it, " it being," she writes, " as ill for me as possible."
She put it in the hands of Mr. Davis, desiring him to make an abstract
of it, that she might send it down to the tenants, and then, in reply
to her letter. Lord Dorset came down to Knole, " he being something
kinder to me than he was, out of pity, in regard he saw me so much
Troubled." She herself made certain extracts from the award, and
sent them down to her friends in Westmoreland, that they might
see how she was being treated, and took the opportunity at the same
time of sending what she called " a bowed angel," (probably a lucky
piece of gold that was bent) to Mrs. Hartley, and a pair of Willoughby
gloves to Lady Lowther. She seems to have been completely upset
by this grievous decision against her, so much so, that when Lord
Dorset begged her to undertake to look after the house, with a view,
perhaps, to his withdrawing some of the officials of the household to
London, she refused, saying that she was not well enough to do so,
" things went so iU with me." This proved to him that she was really
out of health, and for a while he made it up with her — " my Lord and
I parted reasonable good friends, he leaving with me his grcindmother's
ring." She still entertained very bitter feeUngs about his personal
servant, Matthew, and at this moment the chaplain intervened.
" At night Mr. Rand came and persuaded me to be friends with
Matthew, but I told him I had received so many injuries from him
that I could hardly forget them." However, a day or two afterwards
she did agree to become friends. " Mr. Rand brought me a message
from Matthew, saying how much he desired to have my favour, whereof
I desired Mr. Rand to tell him that, as I was a Christian, I would
forgive him, and so had some hours' speech with Mr. Rand."
As soon as the award was published. Lord Cumberland had no
further excuse for keeping back the money which was due to Lady
Anne. Sir Matthew Hale tells us that the award which the King
made was dated the 14th of March, 1617, and that in it the King took
upon himself to settle the differences, and decreed that Lady Anne
and her husband should make a conveyance under the Great Seal of
i2o Lady Anne.
all her lands to Lord Ciimberland under various remainders, and that
£20,000 was to be paid over to the Earl of Dorset. This sura of money
was to be paid in instalments, five thousand at Michaelmas, six thou-
sand pounds at Midsummer, six thousand pounds more the following
Midsummer, and the last three thousand pounds at Michaelmas again.
Although she refused to accept the award in any way, yet some of the
money certainly appears to have reached her husband. " In
Michaelmas, 1617," she says, " did my Lord receive ;^4,ooo from
my uncle the Earl of Cumberland, which was the first penny that I
received of my portion," and then, on the 24th June, 1619, there is
a further reference to the payment of money, in which she says " The
24th my Lord received the last pa5mient of my portion, which was
six thousand pounds, so as he hath received in all £17,000." On this
occasion she adds, " John Taylor required of my Lord an acquittance,
which he refused to give, in regard he had delivered in the statutes,
which were a suf&cient discharge." One might have thought from
the phrase " my portion " that this sum of money related to the legacy
which had been left to Lady Anne by her father, or perhaps to some
money bequeathed to her by her mother, or to a marriage settlement,
but from the amount paid it is pretty clear that it was not so, as her
father's legacy to her was fifteen thousand pounds, and these amounts,
to which we have referred, come, according to the last statement we
have in her Day-by-Day book, to £17,000, evidently leaving the
final three thousand which was to be paid at Michaelmas, and which
was to make the exact sum of twenty thousand pounds named in the
award. We have no diary for the Michaelmsis time, and are imable
to state, therefore, definitely whether the extra three thousand was
paid, but the payment probably was made.
It is therefore clear that, to a great extent, both Lord Dorset and
Lord Cumberland gained their own way, and succeeded in getting
hold of the estates, and in return for them. Lord Cmnberland had to
pay out the twenty thousand pounds which Lord Dorset was so anxious
to obtain. The fact that all this money had been paid out of the
estates, and yet that after all, Lady Anne succeeded to them, must
have increased her satisfaction, when she did come into possession
of the Westmoreland property ; but it very likely accoimts for the fact
that early in her accession to the estates, she had very little money.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 121
for this large sum, it would appear, had been raised out of the estates
by fines, on long leases, for the benefit of her first husband, and the
estates to that extent were crippled in value. The particular cause
of dispute between the husband and wife had now come to an end.
She had been forced to yield to the King's decision, to an award which
she declared to be wholly imreEisonable, and altogether wrong, but
she could do no more, and she now had to wait in full expectation
that some day or other her rights would be rectified, and that she
would succeed to the estates. This, in due course, ensued.
The remaining part of the Knole Day-by-Day book refers more to
matters of personal interest, but it is also largely concerned with the
death of the Queen, who had been Lady Anne's greatest helper in the
whole controversy. Meantime, however. King James was on his
way back from Scotland, and passing by Brougham on his return to
London, was entertained at Brougham Castle by Francis, Earl of
Cumberland and his son Lord Clifford in magnificent fashion. The
reception has one notable feature, for it included a musical enter-
tainment, specially prepared for the King's pleasure, and it is said
that this was the first time when a programme of words and music
was presented to the persons who formed the audience. The
entertainment must have been remarkable and costly. The songs
appear to have been expressly written by Mr. George Mason and
Mr. John Earsdon, and a little pamphlet was printed in London in
1618 containing the words and music. This is now exceedingly rare.
Only two copies of it can be traced. One of them is in the British
Museum,*^ the other was in the famous Hbrary at BritweU Court, be-
longing to Mr. S. Christie-MiUer.** It is entitled " The Ayres that were
Svng and Played at Brougham Castle in Westmeriand in the King's
Entertainment, Given by the Right Honourable the Earle of Cvmber-
« K 8 h 7. London : T. Snodham, folio.
M Vide Rimbault on Madrigals. B.M., BBG ci6.
The Christie Miller copy was sold at Sothebys in December, rgig (Lot JS), to Messrs. Ellis,
who ask 125/. for it. It is a very flue copy, in finer condition than the one in the B.M., whole>
bound in cream vellum with the Christie- Miller arms In gold on each cover. The publisher was
Thomas Snodham, 1618. The Collation is to E in twos, the number of pieces of music 10.
As the first example of a musical programme arranged in a private house in England for the
special delectation of a Sovereign it is a volume eminently desirable to a collector, and it is a
source of regret to me that it cannot find a place in my own collection. It certainly should be
secured by some Westmoreland or Cumberland collector.
122 Lady Anne.
land, and his Right Noble Sonne the Lord Clifford." It comprises
nine songs, which are as follows : —
1. Join thy cheerful voice to mine. (A dialogue to be sung " the first
night, the King being at supper.")
2. Now is the time. {A dialogue to be sung " at the same time ").
3. Welcome, welcome, King of guests. (The King's " Good Night " —
"Good night" is the refrain to it).
4. Come follow me, my wandering mates.
5. Dido was the Carthage Queen.
6. Robin is a lovely lad. (" The Dance ").
7. The shadows dark'ning, our intent. (" A Song ")
8. Truth sprung from heaven shall shine.
9. O Stay, sweet is the least delay. (" The Farewell Song ").
10. Good night. ("The Lord's welcome," sung before the King's "Good
Night ").
The programme is reprinted but not quite accurately, words and
music, in John Stafford Smith's Musica Aniiqua,^'' vol. Ii, page 150,
and there are references to each of the composers, one of whom.
Mason, was a man of some importance in Oxford in his day ; in Sir
John Hawkins' History of Music.^^
Lord Cumberland, by arranging this musical programme, having
the songs and music all specially composed for the occcision and sending
for a party of glee singers to come down all the way from London
to Westmorelsmd, was evidently determined to show his sovereign
his gratitude for the influence the King had exercised in winning the
estates for him, and the entertainment was of such importance that
there are many references to it in the literature of the day. It created
quite a sensation.
In August, 1617, Lord Dorset came down again to Knole, both he
and his wife and Lady Margaret, occupying the same room. The
following day, he went to Penshurst, but would not take his wife with
him, although she sa37s " Lord and Lady Lisle ^® sent a man on purpose
to desire me to come." He hunted in Penshurst Park, and stayed
there at night, meeting Lord Montgomery, Lord Hay, and a great deal
of other company, and then he went on to Buckhurst, beginning, as
" B.M. H. 81, 1812.
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THE PEDIGREE OF THE ST. JOHNS OF BLETSO
(see page 66).
To face page 123.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 123
she says " his progress into Sussex." He had " Lord Abergavenny "
with him, Lord Compton, his servants, and " about thirty horsemen,'*
and they were all * very Gallant, Brave and Merry." Thence he passed
on to Lewes, and from there wrote a letter to her of a more cheerful
character. She refers to it as " a very kind letter." The difficulty,
whatever it was, that had prevented her going to Penshurst Place had
now passed away, because the very afternoon upon which she wrote
to her husband at Lewes, she went herself to Penshurst on horseback
to spend the day, and met there Lady Dorothy Sidney *» (who was
the wife of Lord Lisle's eldest son, and the mother of Sachaiissa),
Lady Manners, Lord Norris," Lady Worth,*^ and others. She re-
turned home late at night, her cousin, Barbara Sidney, she says,
coming with her part of the way. Lord Dorset continued to be
away from home for some time, and Lady Anne took the opportunity
of going to see several of her neighbours. She went on horseback on
one occasion to Ightham Mote, to see Lady Selby and have " some
bread and butter " with her, and on another occasion went over to
Lullingston Castle to call upon a certain Sir Percival Hart,'* with
whom previously her husband had been staying, on which occasion
they hunted some deer as far as Otford. Later on, we read of this
Sir Percival Hart coming to Knole to dine, and Lord Dorset showing
him his stables and all his horses. One of Sir Percival's friends was a
certain Lady Wootton (see a Lady Wotton mentioned before), who
came over one day to see Lady Anne at Knole, in order to talk to her
^bout the Westmoreland property. She evidently had a great opinion
of her power of persiiasion, but foimd she had to deal with a determined
person, and the Lady Anne says " she stayed not an hour, in regard
she saw I was so resolutely bent not to part with Westmoreland."
The visit to Sir Percival Hart's had evidently been rather a serious
undertaking, because she took with her two of her Gentlewomen and
as many " horses as ever " she could get, and then, on her return;
the steward came io meet her. In other respects, the life at that
time at Knole was quieter and more contented. She appears to have
1" Daughter of Henry, gth Earl of Northumberland.
"^ Francis, 2nd Lord Norreys, afterwards Earl of Berkshire.
" Probably the wife of Sir Robert Wroth or Worth, knighted in 1603.
, *3' Knighted in 1601.
124 Lady Anne.
amused herself upon more than one occasion, in making quince mar-
malade. " I made much of it," she sa5^, and quite gladly used it
for presents to various friends who called upon her, Lady Lisle and
Lady Barbara Sidney,** both of them seem to have received gifts of
quince marmalade, after they had walked " in the wildemesse " with
their hostess. On another occasion, she sent to her cousin, George
Clifford, half a buck, which my Lord had sent me half-an-hour before."
The letter which had accompanied the buck was not a particularly
gracious one, she speaks of it as " indifferent kind," but just at that
time there also arrived the letter from George Clifford, saying what
he had being doing on her behalf, and, anxious to express her good
will towards him, she hastened to send off to him this venison as a
gift. Lady Anne was always interested in hearing whatever news
could be brought to her respecting the northern property, and one
day she had in, Eifter dinner, a footman named Richard Dawson,
who had served her mother, and he gave her the names of the various
tenants round about Brougham, and told her how the castle had been
deUvered up to Lord Cumberland, and the plate which had belonged
to her mother had been sent to the care of Lord WilUam Howard,
while some of the furniture had been put away temporarily in the
Baron's Chamber at Appleby. He also told her to her great joy that
" all the Tenemts were very well affected towards me and very ill
towards them."
Another of her occupations was to string together her chains and
her bracelets, assisted in this work by her constant attendant
WiUoughby.
Lord Dorset meantime was paying a series of visits, hunting, she
says, " In many Gentlemen's Parks, Then He went on to Woodstock to
meet the King, and stayed up and down at many Gentlemen's Houses,
a good while. From thence He went to Bath " where there was quite
a gay company assembled, and then to London in September, and at
the very end of the month came down to Knole and was there for a
few days. Afterwards the whole party moved up to London, and
on that occasion she records with that curious satisfaction in dwelling
on the past which always characterised her; her feelings in visiting
•* Daughter of 'Wscount L'Isle, afterwards Viscouatess Strangford.
Lady Anne's Fifst Markiage. 125
on two or three occasions her mother's rooms in Austin Friars, and in
returning again to the room in which she had been married. Whether
the building was occupied at that time, is not very clear, but perhaps
it was necessary for her to go and see the rooms in connection with
some duty she may have incurred under her mother's will. She
certainly says that she went into " most of the Rooms in the House,"
and that she found " very little or nothing of all the stuffs and Pictures
remaining there." Her emotions quite overcame her, and in the room
in which her mother used to sit, and in which she had been married,
she says she " wept extremely." On returning to town, she took
her place again. at St. Bride's Church and at Court, and says she wore
her " Green Damask Gown embroidered, without a Farthingale."
She was received with great consideration by the King, who, she
says, " kissed mee when I was with Him." She records, however,
that that was the " first time I was so near to King James as to Touch
Him," but had evidently forgotten that two years before, he had
given her a similar salute one day when he was going into the Queen's
apartments, as she had herself recorded.
She was always grateful to Queen Anne for the kindly interest
Her Majesty had taken on her behalf, and while the king was in
Scotland, had gone down several times to Greenwich to pay her
respects to the Queen. She tells us that, at that time, the " Prince
was often with the Queen," till about the time she " removed to
Oatlands." She had also written a letter to the Queen in 1617, ex-
pressing her thankfulness " for the favours she had done me," and
sent it off to Lady Ruthven, specially desiring her to deliver it.
She appears at one time to have had some conversation with the Queen
concerning the Spanish match which was then so much talked about.
" Folk told me," she says " for certain that the match with Spain
for our Prince would go forward. The King of Spain was grown so
gracious to English folk, that he had written a letter in behalf of
Lord Willoughby's brother," (to whom Lady Anne had already
referred) " to get him out of the Inquisition at Aricona." Now that
she was back in town, on the 2nd of November, she sent to the Queen
a handsome present by the hands of Lady Ruthven, she describes it
as the skirts of a white satin gown, all pearled and embroidered with
colours, "which cost me," she says, "four-score pounds without
126 Lady Anne.
the sattin," that is to say, she had incurred this expenditure for the
embroidery and the pearl work, and in all probability, the effect
must have been exceedingly fine. The Queen sent for her, a couple
of da5rs after, into her own Bed Chamber, and there again she spoke
to the King. " He used me," says she, "very graciously, and bid me
go to his attorney, who should inform him more of my desires."
Her own solicitor was probably a Mr. Davis, for in the following day
she says she carried Mr. Davis *^ to Gray's Inn, to the king's attorney,
" and I told him his Majesty's pleasure, and from thence," she adds,
" I went on to Mr. Walton's lodgings, to entreat his advice and help
in this business," as there was evidently still some complication, and
then she went down to Knole again. About ten days afterwards.
Lord Dorset was also at Knole, and her cousin Lord CMfford was with
him. It seems that he came into her bedchamber to discuss business
matters^ for she writes " my Lord brought my cousin Clifford, though
much against his will, into my bed chamber, where we talked of
ordinary matters some quarter of an hour, and so he came away,"
implying that she declined to discuss questions connected with her
husband, her estate, or her married hfe, with this cousin. Quite a new
difficulty was at this moment breaking upon her horizon. There was
a certedn Lady Peneystone with whom Lord Dorset had become
violently infatuated, and for whom he neglected his own wife in an
open and shameless manner. In consequence Lady Anne's visits to
Court took place but seldom, and were as short as possible, and in all
probabihty, she would not have come to Court at all, except for the
presence of the Queen, to whom she remained devotedly attached.
The rest of the year, the Day-by-Day Book only records purely
domestic matters, although many of them are of interest.
She was afraid, early in December, that Lady Margaret was going
to have the smallpox, for the child had a cough and a good deal of
pain, but in a few days had recovered, and that anxiety passed
away. Then she herself was not well, and Thomas ComwaUis, the
Groom Porter, came down from London in order to make inquiries
concerning her health. He was probably a man well advanced in
years, because she spent some time in talking with him about Queen
'^ Probably John Davis the Kings's Sergeant, appointed in 1606,
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 127
Elizabeth, she says, " and such old matters of the Court." She also
discussed similar questions with Sir John Taylor.** Another person
who visited her was Lady Neville, who was taken up to Lady Anne's
own room, where she says " I showed her all my things, and gave
her a pair oi Spanish leather gloves." There was hunting going on
at Buckhurst, and a great crowd of country gentlemen were Lord
Dorset's guests, " all of them met him," she says " with their Grey
Hounds" and all the great officials of the house went down to
Buckhurst, and " my Lord had feasts." Sir Thomas Parker,*' she
tells us, was there. Lord Dorset and his brother were not agreeing
very well at this time, and they had " much squabbling," and so, after
they had left. Lord Dorset stayed alone at Buckhurst, and had no one
with him but his constant companion Matthew.
Christmas was spent in London, all the household moving up to
Great Dorset House, the child going before in a litter. " There was
great housekeeping all this Christmas," and everything was done in
state.** She herself went to church, she tells us, on the 28th, in her
rich state attire, both " my Women waiting upon mee in my Liveries,"
and that day there was a great company of neighbours to eat venison.
Then it was that she decided that she would have a definite record
made of all her father's sea voyages, and told one of her servants,
Jones, to inquire into the matter, and procure the ancient chronicle,
and have it copied.**
" Probably the Master of the Rolls, then a very old man.
*' Knight of Ratten in Sussex, married a daughter of Lord Dacre.
"An interesting light is thrown upon the heavy expenditure which Lord Dorset incurred
in keeping up his household when we read, in Bridgeman's work on the Sackville family that,
in his time, there always sat down at the Lord's table eight persons ; at the parlour table,
twenty-one, which included the ladies-in-waiting, the gentlemen of the horse, the chaplain
the secretaries and the pages ; at the clerk's table below the dais twenty more, which included
the principal officials of the hotisehold, who ranked next to those already mentioned ; at the
nursery table four more, being the attendants upon Lady Margaret ; at the long table in the
hall forty-eight inferior servants, most of them men ; at the laundry table twelve female servants ;
and at the scullery table six more. This does not appear to have included the attendants
in the kennels, the stables, the gamekeeping or the hunting departments.
In a Manuscript at Knole there is a rougher list of the servants to the following effect.
" There are twenty-one upper servants, of whom one is Mr. Duppa the chaplain." [This rev-
erend gentleman later on became Bishop of Chichester, and subsequently of Salisbury and of
Winchester] " there are twenty-one cooks, brewers, yeomen and great servants," which includes
the men who have charge of the wardrobes, and four women servants, " there are forty-seven
men in the hall," which include the lowest huntsmen and the bird-catcher, and " there are
twenty-four other servants," whose occupations are not specifically named.
" This copy, a very important document, is still in existence, and is alluded to at length in
my Memoir of George, Earl of Cumberland (Cam. Press, 1920^, where some drawings it contains
are illustrated.
128 Lady Anne.
A curious piece of information, the last entry for that year, is
to the effect that about this time died " Jim Robin's man," but " he
left his master no remembrance, for they was fallen out."
Early in the year. Lady Anne sent another gift to the Queen, a
" Cloth of Silver Cushion, embroidered richly with the King of
Denmark's arms," and decorated with " Stripes of Tent stitch," and
for the first lour or five days of the year, she received much com-
pany, a great many ladies, she says, coming to see her. She mentions
by name Lady Cavendish, Lady Bruce, Lady Herbert and Lady
Donne,'" with the last named of whom she " had much talk about
religion."
Lord Dorset was in one of his grumbling moods, and on Twelfth
Eve, he lost four hundred pieces, pla5dng cards with the King, which
did not improve his temper. The Prince had an important masque at
Whitehall on Twelfth Night, at which the King was present, but
Queen Anne was by that time lying seriously ill at Hampton Court,
and Lady Anne had but little heart for gaieties, and does not
appear to have attended this particular masque. Directly after
Twelfth Night they all removed again to Knole, and no sooner had the
party left London, than, as she tells us, " The Banqueting House at
Whitehall was burnt to the ground, and the writings in the Signet
Office were all lost." She brought down with her to Knole a great
trunk of papers that had belonged to her mother " which trunk "
she says ' was full of writings of Craven and Westmoreland
and Certain letters of Her Friends, and many Papers of Philosophy."
These she probably sorted at this time, perhaps with the assistance
of Lady Wootton, who came to see her, and to talk over various
matters. In all probability, several of the documents which had
belonged to Lady Cumberland which are now at Skipton Castle and
Appleby Castle, were amongst the papers in this old trunk which
Lady Anne sorted out at Knole and kept by her with such care.
She was always anxious to do what she could to promote a spirit
of friendliness with the various members of the Sackville family,
especially when there was the least sign of friction, and understanding
herself only too well what difficulties meant between husband and
'" Possibly Mary, widow of Lord Wentworth and wife of Sir William Pope, created Earl of
Downe, or more probably the wife of Paui«l Dunne, LL.D., Knighted in 1603.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 129
wife, tried her best to avoid them amongst her relatives. " On the
22nd here supped with me my Sisters Sackville and Beauchamp, Bess
Neville, Tom Glenham, and my brother Compton and his wife.
I brought them to sup here on purpose, hoping to make them friends."
In this particular plan, she appears to have been successful, because
a few lines lower down she says " About this time my sister Compton
was reconciled to her husband and went to his house in Finch Lane,
where they stayed ten or twelve days, and then he brought her into
the country at Brambletye," '^ and again later on, " my brother
Compton I made promise me and he gave his hand upon it that he
would keep his house in Finch Lane until Lady Day next, because
my sister Compton might sometimes come to London."
Once again, she went up to London for a short time, and then on
the 23rd of January, returned to Knole in a litter, and on this occasion,
Lady Margaret came back in a coach. " I went," she says " through
the City and over the Bridge, but she crossed the water," and they
found Lord Dorset waiting for them at Knole, as he had been staying
there alone for some little time. They entertained some friends.
Lord Wilham Howard and Lady Selby,'^ and Sir Ralph Boswell "
came to see them, " but I kept my chamber, because I found myself ill
and weak." Her sister. Lady Beauchamp, had lost her Uttle girl, the
child having passed away in the house in which her father had died
only two months before. The body was put into lead and sent down
to the House Steward at Knole, in order to be buried at Witham. It
arrived at Knole on the very day on which Lady Anne was twenty-
nine years old, and a couple of days afterwards the funeral took place,
and " so now," she says, " there was an end of the issue of that marriage,
which was concluded soon after mine."
The irritation which had arisen between Lord William Howard and
Lord Chfford, came to a head in February, when they were sum-
moned before the Lords of the Council, who made inquiry concerning
their procedure in the North. This inquiry did not result in any
friendship, but increased the difficulties, and Lady Anne seems to
" Brambletye is now a niin near to Forest Row village. It was at one time a great house
belonging to the Sackville family. It stands in what was originally Ashdowu Forest.
'* Probably wife of Sir George Selby, Sheriff of Newcastle " the King's host " as he was called.
79 This Sir Ralph Boswell she mentions again a little later, for when she Wcis ill she says
" he played and sung to her in the aftenwon,"
130 Lady Anne.
have appreciated the fact of this squabbling, for she says, " The
Spleen increased between them more and more, and bred faction in
Westmoreland, which I held to be a very good matter for me."
Lord Dorset went down to Buckhurst on the 22nd of February to have
a quiet time by himself, and probably to entertain some of his bachelor
friends. She remained at Knole, and on Shrove Tuesday amused herself
with making pancakes " with my women in the Great Chamber."
AU the talk just then was about the famous (or, rather infamous)
inquiry respecting the moral conduct of Lady Exeter. Lady Anne
speaks of it in the curiously frank manner in which such cases were
reported at that time, and seems to have taken a great deal of satis-
faction in writing down the unpleasant rumours of incest and defama-
tion of character that were flying about respecting Lady Exeter,
Lady Lettice Lake, Lord Roos and other people. She also refers,
with a certain grim satisfaction, to the fact that " my Lady of Suffolk
at Northampton House, about this time had the smallpox, which
spoiled that good Face of Hers, which had brought to others much
misery, and to Herself Greatness, which ended with much unhappiness."
She also relates incidentally the account of the death of Lord Cobham
after his liberation from the Tower.
The lawsuit which has just been mentioned, caused Sir Thomas
Lake to lose his place as Secretary of State, and Sir George Calvert
was given that high office.
We then come to the anniversary of her wedding day, February
25th, 1619, when she writes, " My Lord should have gone to London
on the 24th of this month, but I entreated him to Stay here the 25th,
because on that day 10 years I was married." She appears to have
regarded her married hfe with all its troubles as a time of real
happiness, because she kept the day, she says " as a Day of Jubilee."
Lord Dorset did remain until the 27th, and then went off on horse-
back, but the snow was so heavy and the cold so intense, that he was
quite ill after his journey, and instead of returning to Knole, stayed
in London for ten days and possibly on that occasion, laid the seeds
of an illness which not very long afterwards was to cause his death.
Lady Anne was all this time in constant communication with her
northern friends. Many letters, she says, she had from Mr. Davis
and Mr. Marsh, " by which I perceived " that the " Business went
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 131
well to my liking in Westmoreland," by reason of the differences
which existed between Lord Clifford and her cousin.
Now, however, another trouble was to come upon her, the serious
illness of the Queen, and presently Her Majesty's death. The King
was not able to come to Hampton Court when the Queen died,
as he had, she tells us, " an extreme fit of the Stone at Newmarket,
so as many doubted of his recovery, and the Prince did Post down to
see him." The Queen died on the 2nd of March, between two and three
in the morning. The House Steward, Legge, brought down the news
to Knole, and Lady Anne, who was always pleased at noticing co-
incidences, remarks that she was sitting in the same room at Knole
where she had the first news of her mother's death, and at about the
same hour. Queen Anne of Denmark, she records, died in the same
room " Queen Jane, Harrie 8ths wife died in." The body was
opened, and the viscera buried privately in the Abbey at Westminster,
" in the place where the King's Mother's Tomb is," only " four of her
servants, the Gentlemen Ushers, and a Herald being present, the
Dean of Westminster conducting the ceremony, and about ten other
persons with him. " The corpse, she tells us, was brought from Hampton
Court to Denmark House by water in the night, and the " Great
Ladies of the Court watched while it lay there " with much state.
She took her turn with the other Court attendants at the watching,
and afterwards, hand in hand with Lady Lincoln,'* walked in the
procession, each of them wearing a mourning robe of sixteen yards
of heavy black cloth !
Immediately after the ceremony, Lord Dorset, who had not been
well, but who was just able to come up to town to take part in the
funeral procession to Denmark House and the funeral, returned home
by barge with his wife and Lord and Lady Warwick. Lady Anne at
once went to see Lady Beauchamp to show off her mourning attire,
where she says she met Lady Pembroke, and other persons of
her acquaintance, with whom she had much talk about the funeral.
Lord Clifford had come up from Westmoreland and was also a mourner,
and he it was who carried the banner for the Lords. " When all the
Company was gone and the Church Door shut up, the Dean of West-
minster, the Prebends, and Sir Edward Zouch, who was Knight Marshal
'* Probably the wife of Theophilus, 12th I^rd Clinton and 4tli Earl of Ijncob.
132 Lady Anne.
came up a private way, and burned the Corps at the East end of
Henry VII's chapel, about seven o'clock at night." She records
the fact that there were i8o poor women mourners, and these were
probably persons to whom alms were given on the occasion of the
funeral. Sir Edward SackviUe was not present. He was seriously
ill, so ill, that at one time it was " generally reported that he was
dead." That evening, there was a great supper at Dorset House,
given especially in honour of some of the Frenchmen who came over
with the Ambassador to the funeral, and " after supper there was a
Play," and at the banquet she specially records that " my Lady
Peneystone, and a great many Lords and Ladies, were present,"
Lord Dorset had been tr5dng for some time past to persuade his wife
to receive Lady Peneystone at Knole. She seems, however, to
have objected to doing so, but in the succeeding July, she records the
fact that all that summer Lady Peneystone was at " the Wells near
Tunbridge, drinking the Waters," and in consequence, she was not
able to avoid having her over to Knole, " on the 24th after supper,
came to Knole Sir Thomas Peneystone '* and his Lady, and Sir Maxi-
milian '* and Lady Dalison." The 25th they stayed with her all day,
she speaks of their having great entertainment and much stir about
them, and the 26th they all went away. She does, however, mention
in another side note in her book that there was some condemnation
amongst local gentry of this visit of Lady Peneystone. " This coming
hither of Lady Peneystone was much talked of abroad, and my Lord
was condemned for it." Lady Devonshire, she says, was also at the
Wells at that time and came over to Knole for dinner.
The Queen's funeral, which was postponed for many months on
account of the King's illness, has rather upset our chronology, and we
now come back again to March, to the time when the Queen's
death actually occurred. Lady Anne was much depressed at this
time. She had been reading a book " in praise of the Solitary Life," "
and having St. Augustine's " City of God " '^ read to her — books
which had belonged to her mother. She had also been working
™ First Baronet. He married three times. We are not clear which of the three wives is
alluded to here.
'« Knight of Hailing in Kent.
" Perhaps " The Praise of Solitariness," 1577 or St. Basil's Epistle of a -Solitary Life, 1594.
" Folio, 1610. Printed by J. H[ealy], dedicated to Lord Pembroke.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 133
very earnestly at two of the books of the Clifford records, which her
mother had commenced to prepare, and she was depressed by
the fact that Lord Warwick ''* had rather suddenly died, leaving,
she says, " a great estate to Lord Rich and my good friend his lady,
and leaving his wife, which was my Lady Lampwell, a widow for the
second time." Furthermore she had read a book called " The Sup-
plication of the Saints," ^^ which Lord Dorset had given her, and
dweUing iipon these books and furthermore worr5dng herself unduly
about a search that Lord Dorset had been making for recusants,
was evidently in very poor health, and so came to the conclusion,
after a great " Passion of Weeping " in her room, that her " mind
w£is so troubled " that she was not fit "to receive Communion "
that Easter.
She goes on to tell us she had been keeping Lent very
strictly, not eating either butter or eggs, until at last Lord
Dorset had interfered, and insisted upon a change because she
was looking pale and ill, and as she herself confesses was weak
and sickly. It was evident that she had been keeping Lent in
far too austere a fashion considering the state of her health. On
Good Friday she decided that she certainly would not take Communion.
The next day she sent for the chaplain, Mr. Rand, and told him that
she did not feel herself " fit to receive Communion," and as soon as
Lord Dorset heard what she had decided, he said that the Communion
was to be put off for the whole household at Knole, excepting any of
them that liked to go to the church. In consequence, Mr. Rand
preached in the private chapel, but there was no Communion that
Easter in the house, only at the church. In the afternoon, however,
she began to repent that she had caused the Communion to be put
off tiU Whitsuntide, and appears to have taken the opportunity to
have some serious conversation with Lord Dorset, when he protested
to her that he would be " a very good husband to her," and she should
receive no prejudice by the legal action that had proceeded at this
time, while in various ways he endeavoured to cheer her up, so that
the happy event which was then expected, might come off with
"This must surely be Robert Rich, ist Earl who only became Earl of Warwick in the previous
August. His wife is usually called widow of Sir George Paul.
80 " Supplication of the Saints," by T. Sorocold i6i2, a very popular book which ran into
45 editions.
i34 Lady AnKE.
satisfaction. Soon afterwards he appears to have left Knole, and
gone to Buckhurst, and afterwards to Lewes to see, she says, " the
Muster which the County prepared, in so much better Fashion by
reason of their affection to Him, which was as much as my Lord hath
in any County, or Can have." It is always of interest to see the way
in which she takes every opportunity of tr5dng, even against her own
will, to praise up her unworthy husband. It is clear that she was
really fond of him, and equally clear that at times, he had considerable
affection for her, but he was led astray by his love of sport, and by
his wild companions.
On the 4th of April, 1619, there was a general thanksgiving for the
King's recovery at Paul's Cross. The Bishop of London preached, and
most of the Privy Council were present. Lord Dorset had been as usual
amusing himself at cards, and in Lewes there had been great play be-
tween Lord Hunsdon, Lady Effingham and Lord Dorset, who appears
to have lost about two hundred pounds to each of them. There were
great festivities in Lewes, and the town entertained the party with
fireworks. King James was not satisfied however, to hear that one
of his favourite courtiers was simply gratif5dng his own inclination,
while he was down at Newmarket in poor health, for, although
there had been a thanksgi^'ing for his recovery, he was yet not
sufficiently strong to be moved. He sent for Lord Dorset " there
came a Letter to my Lord, to advise Him to come to Royston
to the King, because most of the Lords had been with Him at
the time of his sickness," but Lord Dorset had not been amongst
the number, and so back the young nobleman had to go. He
journeyed from Knole up to London, and the next day went on
from London to Royston and watched by the King that night in
company with Lord Warwick and Lord North. The King appreciated
the attention, " and used him," says she, " very well," and so Lord
Dorset stayed at Royston till the 13th and then he came up to
London, and three or four days afterwards she journeyed up, in com-
pany with her gentlewomen and most of the household, leaving only
one maid, Mary Hutchins, behind, to wait upon Lady Margaret.
We have already referred to the fact that Mrs. Bathurst, who
appears to have been a sort of Gentlewoman in Waiting to Lady
Margaret, had been dismissed. Apparently the new Lady Warwick
Lady Anne's ^irst MARRtAGE. 135
had rather taken up the cause of this person, and had pointed out to
Lady Anne that she had made an error in her dismissal. " I met
Mrs. Bathurst at Lady Beauchamp's on the i8th, Sunday, after she
had been to Warwick House." She was in mourning attire, because
of the recent death of Lord Warwick. She told Mrs. Bathurst on one
occasion she " did both forget and forgive anything she had done
against her," and she spoke to Lady Warwick on her behalf, probably
obtaining for Mrs. Bathurst a similar position in the house of the
new countess. The following day, she took her part in sitting by the
Queen's corpse, and then went into the gallery of Somerset House
(then called Denmark House) and showed to one of her cousins " the
fine delicate things there." Two or three days afterwards, we hear
of her at Parson's Green, where she went to see Lady St. John, and
particularly records the fact that she met " a Spanish friar."
Lord Dorset had on his return to London taken his usual enjoyment
of cock-fighting, had " two days' cocking at the cockpit," he was also
" Running at the Ring and had an infinite company with him."
The very day that Lady Anne was at Parson's Green, the King arrived
at Theobald's, brought in a litter from Royston to Ware, and then on
to Theobald's, but carried " most part of the way by the Guard, for
he was still so ill, he could not endure the litter." Once again we
hear of her taking her place watching beside the Queen's body, accom-
panied by variotis other persons. Lord Carew,*^ Lord Compton, Lord
CUfford, and others, from the early part of the evening up to mid-
night. There were also present, she says. Lord Dorset, Lady Warwick,
Sir Henry Rich, Sir Thomas Edmonds,^^ and other people, but they
all left at midnight, whereas she and some of the ladies in waiting
remained till five o'clock in the morning. On Saturday the 24th,
Lord Dorset went down to see the King, " who used him," says she,
" very Graciously," and then, the next day, she and Lady Warwick
went to Denmark House, to hear " a Sermon in the Great Hall," and
afterwards to Hyde Park to " take the air," and when she returned
home, he went on to see his brother, who was still ill, " and
is very sick and out of Temper in his body." There was more cock-
fighting on the Monday, Lord Dorset winning five or six " battles,"
'^ George, ist and only Ix)rd Carew of Clopton, afterwards Earl of Totnes.
*' Clerk of the Council, Knighted in 1603.
136 Lady AN>fE.
while she went to see Lady Windsor and Lady Raleigh, the latter of
whom lived in a house close by Austin Friars. On Tuesday, she tells
us, she received her new mourning gown. She had already been
expostulated with by her husband, again and again, for not taking
sufficient interest in her costume, and so she has a new gown made
and certain ornaments she speaks of for it " that Nan Horn made
for me."
Two of the tenants meantime, belonging to the V/estmoreland
estates, had got into serious difficulties with the Earl of Cumberland,
and although Lady Anne was not responsible in any way for them,
they appear to have come to London to see her, and to crave her
assistance in an action they proposed to take against Lord Cumberland.
Matters were evidently not progressing favourably in the North.
There was a good deal of quarrelling between young Lord Clifford
and his tenants. " Matters went more to my content and less to his
than we expected." Lady Anne appears to have sided with the
tenants, and to have arranged with various officials that they should
see the Lord Chancellor,®* but his orders to them were very definite
he told them that they were to be good tenants to Lord Cumberland,
and seems to have threatened them that, if they did not obey his in-
structions, "he would break them." They were evidently loth to accept
him as their landlord, " the poor men " she says " were much perplexed
and troubled. I gave them the best comfort and encouragement I
could." A httle later, she sent them back again to their homes, with
handsome presents of gold and silver. She was not pursuing a wise
course in thus interfering between the tenants and the owner of the
land, and her representative, Mr. Davis, seems to have received some
very straight remarks from the Lord Chancellor, for she sa5rs, " My
Lord Chancellor had the tenants before him, and counselled them to
5deld to my uncle Cumberland, at which time he gave Mr. Davis bad
words." It is probable that the estate from which they had come
was that called King's Meaburn or Maud's Meaburn, because on the
1st of May, 1619, she expressly records the fact that her representative
Mr. Davis, came and read to her and to Lord Dorset, the papers con-
cerning a Chancery suit which Lord Cumberland and his son Lord
Clifford had started against the tenants of that particular estate.
"Sit Francis Bacon ; Chancellor, January 4th, 1618 ; Removed, i6ai.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 137
On the 2nd of May she received a visit from some people who were
evidently unwelcome, but we have not been able to ascertain the
cause. " When I returned home," she says, " I found Mr. Hammers ®*
and his wife here, and told her that for my part, she had made so
many scorns and jests of me, she was nothing welcome to me."
The remainder of the Day-by-Day Book is concerned with informa-
tion of a domestic or of a local character, with here and there reference
to public matters. For example, Lady Anne gives us the following
facts. She calls the marriage of Lord Sheffield ** to Anne Urwyn
" mean and indiscreet." She speaks of the death on the 3rd of May,
1619, of Sir Arthur Lake's ®* wife, and says that she had been
" grievously tormented a long time with pains and sores, which broke
out in blotches." She refers to the arraignment and condemnation by
the King's Bench, of WilHams, a lawyer, who was adjudged to be hung,
drawn and quartered, for having written a certain book called
" Balaam's Ass," ®' and mentions that he was taken to Newgate,
and the horrible sentence was carried out at Charing Cross on the
5th of May. She refers with great gratification to the fact that
Bamevelt had been beheaded at the Hague on the 3rd instant, and says
that " this man hath long been a Secret Friend to the Spaniards, and
an Enemy to the English."®* She relates that Lord Doncaster*'
had been sent on an " embassage into Germany," to go to the emperor,
and to " mediate between him " and the King, and on the 30th of
December in the same year, she tells us that Lord Doncaster had
returned. She mentions the coronation of the Palgrave and
Princess Ehzabeth as King and Queen of Bohemia at Prague. She
says that there was great expectation that Lord and Lady Suffolk
would be proceeded against in the Star Chamber, but that the suit
was put off until a Uttle later, and then in December states that " they
both were sent to the Tower." At the same time she mentions that
Lord William Howard had started an action in the Star Chamber
" Possibly the Prebendary of Worcester, consecrated Bishop of St Asaph in 1642, if he ever
married.
^ Tliird Baron, afterwards Earl Mulgrave. Tliis was his second wife.
" Second son of Sir Thomas Lake, knighted in 1617.
*' A very rare tract of 4 leaves in verse, 1649. The author does not appear to be mentioned
in any of the books of reference and perhaps has not hitherto been known. See B.M. £564(7).
^ Renier van Olden-Bamevelt, Dutch Patriot ob. 1623.
" James, Lord Hay, Viscount Doncaster and afterwards Earl of Carlisle, ob: 1636.
138 Lady Anne.
against Sir William Hatton, and some other people, and that Lady
Roos' '" submission was read in the same chamber, but that as she
and Sir Arthiir and Lady Lake refused to submit to it, they were
committed close prisoners to the Tower. She refers to a marriage
between Sir Thomas Glenham and Sir Peter Vavasour's daughter,
and says that the lady brought " a great portion " to her husband-
It seems to be possible that Lord Dorset's Gentleman, who has generally
been spoken of as Thomas Glenham, was the same person who is here
alluded to. She mentions that Sir Henry Vane came down in July
to Knole, and played at bowls. She tells us that Lady Bedford had
the smallpox, and through it lost one of her eyes. On another occasion
she mentions that her cousin Oldworth *^ came down to show her the
drawings of certain monuments that were to be set up at Chenies of
her great-grandfather the Earl of Bedford, her grandfather who suc-
ceeded him, and of Lady Warwick. She says that Sir Harry Vane's
wife had a child who was named Walter, and that Lady Selby and
she were godmothers, and Mr. Walter Sturt and Sir R. Yeatley *^
were godfathers. Towards the end of the diary, she again refers to
Lord Suffolk's trial, and sajrs that he was brought into the Star Chamber
before all the Council, and it was adjudicated that he should pay six
thousand pounds to the King, and that " he and his lad57 should remain
Prisoners in the Tower " during the King's pleasure.
Of matters that are purely domestic, we have several interesting
small entries. On the 6th of May, Lord Dorset sat up playing cards
very late, and did not come home till twelve o'clock at night. A day
or two afterwards, it is mentioned that neither she nor Lord Dorset
went to church in the morning, because, says she, " Skinnie was
married that Day to Sarah," but in this particular instance, we are
not able to identify either of the persons "referred to. In April
of that year Lord Dorset and Lady Anne had decided to go
home suddenly from London to Knole, and the coach and horses were
ready, but, says she " there came a great shower, which stayed our
going," and so they appear to have simply used the coach to go to
'" Eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Lake, wife of William Cecil, Lord Roos and grand-daughter
by marriage of the Earl of Exeter.
'^Arnold Oldisworth (b. 1561) antiquary, in all probability. His son Michael (1591-1694
was afterwards Lord Pembroke's secretary.
" Possibly Sir R. Yaxeley, knighted in 1599.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 139
Westminster Abbey to see the various tombs, and especially to notice
the place where the Queen had been buried in Henry VII's chapel.
Her reading during that time is mentioned on two or three occasions.
She says that her cousin at one time was reading Parson's Resolutions •'
to her, at another Ovid's Metamorphoses,** she also mentions the
fact that Wat Conniston read a book called Leicester's Commonwelth *^
to her, and when he had finished that, commenced to read Josephus,'*
and she was also spending a great deal of time in reading through
the documents concerning her father's voyages, which she was
having carefully written out. At other times, she says she was
airing the furs which came from London, one of which — " a sable
muff " — she says she gave as a gift to Sir Robert Farley (?), or she was
playing at Tables with the steward, or at Glecko, occasionally losing
more money than she had intended, and deciding not to play any more
for some considerable time. There are a few entries directly con-
cerned with Knole, with her own establishment, and with her little girl.
She had considerable difficulty at intervals with those who were about
her. " On the 14th of July my cousin Mary and I had a bitter faUing
out." The following day, being Sunday, she did not go to church
at all, because she fell out with Kate Burton, and swore, says she,
" I would not keep her, but I would send her to her father." Three
days after, she records a visit from Sir Edward Burton, and " I told
him I was determined I would not keep his Daughter," and then on
the 2nd of October, she mentions the fact that " Kate Burton went
away from serving me, to her father's house in Sussex." She also
mentions that she had an accident with one of her teeth one night,
breaking it off, and that she " was sad and melancholy all night,"
perhaps in consequence of the mishap.
Lady Margaret was five years old in July, and Lord Dorset, who
was at that time at Knole sitting to Van Somer for his portrait,
caused her health to be drunk throughout the house. That same
M " Resolutions of Religion," by R. Parsons 1603.
** Probably Golding's Black Letter edit., translation printed by Purfoot 1612 ; " always
lively and sometimes poetic."
'' A story, small 4to with portrait, declared to have been written by Robert, Earl of
Leicester, 1584, but probably by Father Parsons, the Jesuit. Sydney issued an answer to it.
Shaliespeare is said to have used it when writing Hamlet.
•' Lodge's translation, 1603 or i6og.
140
Lady Anne,
month, she says that her daughter began to sit to Van Somer for her
picture, and he was also copjing her Lord's picture for her.®'
Such a small event as the going away of one of the laundry maids
is recorded in this wonderful Day-by-Day Book : — " October 7, Bess
of the laundry went away, and one Nell came in her room," and then
about this time, Lady Anne took to her room, and she says that she
" stirred not out of it " from October to March. A new attendant
came to serve her on the 14th, Sir Francis Slingsby,®^ she says, "brought
his Daughter Mary to serve me, and she came that night and lay in
Judith's roor.i, so that I mean to keep her continually about me."
Three or four days afterwards, at night, she sajre, " the Fire Dog
played with Fire," and this may perhaps be an allusion to a false
alarm, and the Dog may have been an arrangement for putting a fire
engine to work, because she says she took cold with " standing in a
Window," evidently to look at it. A very little while afterwards an
actual fire occurred, because on the 29th she saj's that the " Drawing '
Chamber Chimney was on Fire," and she had to " sup in the new
Drawing Chamber with my Lord."
Lady Margaret does not seem to have progressed very rapidly in her
ability to talk clearly. She says, " All the winter my Lady Margaret's
Speech was very iU, so that Strangers cannot understand her, besides
she was so apt to take Cold, and so out of Temper, that it grieved me to
think of it," and, she adds, " I verily believe aU these inconveniences
proceed from some Distemper in her Head." It was also considered
worthy of notice that in October, 1619, the gallery was rehung with
new hangings, " all my Lord's caparisons, which Edwards the up-
holsterer made up."
Lady Anne was evidently at this time in exceedingly fragile health,
and by no means satisfied with her physical condition ; therefore it
was that she spent a considerable amount of time in her own room
and did not stir forth " yet methinks," says she, " the time is not so
tedious to me as when I used to be abroad." On one occasion she
°' We believe that these are the pictures at Knole which have been at one time attributed
to Cornelius Janssens or Johnson,
?8 Biurke says that this man was never knighted and that all the writers, including Pennant,
who dub him Sir Francis are in error. Lady Anne is however a credible witness. He had been
with Ixjrd Cumberland in the voyage of 1593.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 14^
was much happier than usual, because Sir Francis Slingsby " had
come to her, and was giving her a long account of her father's voyages.
Just before this, she had a severe faint, and says that it was " the
first time " in her life that she had ever fainted. There are very
occasional references to Lord Dorset, but probably, on Lady Peney-
stone's account, things were not particularly happy between husband
and wife. She records, however, with some considerable satisfaction, in
November, that " on the 29th day of the month was the last time my
Lord came to Lady Peneystone at her Mother's Lodgings in the Strand,"
and so it may be hoped that this affair between Lord Dorset and Lady
Peneystone had in some way or other come to an end. On the whole
Lord Dorset seems to have been kinder to her just at this time than
he had been before, and during the period of her weak health, she
received much attention and kindness from the ladies round about
her neighbourhood. " The ladies were very kind to me," says she.
There were occasional difficulties, however, for example, on the 15th
of December, after supper, " My Lord and I had great falUng out, he
sa5ang that if ever my land came to me, I should assure it as he would
have me." However, three days afterwards, this quarrel seems to
have been made up, for on the i8th " my Lord came and supped with
me in my chamber, which he had not done before since his coming to
London, for I determined to keep my Chamber, and did not so much
as go over the threshold ol the door." He was evidently, however,
enjoying himself. In London, she speaks of his keeping " a great
Table," of having a " Great company of Lords and gentlemen that
used to dine with him," and when he was down at Knole, she men-
tioned the fact that he had guests frequently, while on one occasion,
she gives the names of three persons who dined with her Gentle-
women, Mrs. Care, Goody Davey, and Goody Crawley. As regards
her own estates, there are only a very few Unes. " I perceived how
ill things were likely to go in Westmorland," she says. " I received
a box of sweetmeats," she adds on another occasion, " brought me
by one of the tenants to whom I gave good reward," and then she
mentions that she signed a letter of attorney for Ralph Conniston to
receive certain debts that had been due to her mother, and he went
off to the north to obtain them. She pressed Lord Dorset more
" See over respecting Sir Francis Slingsby.
142 Lady Anne.
than once concerning her jointure, telling him straightly "how
good he was to every one else and how unkind " to her, and at
last he promised her, in May of that year, " in a manner that he
would make me a Jointure of Four Thousand pounds a year, whereof
part should be of the lands he has assured to my uncle Cumberland,"
but he put off doing this as long as he could, for it was not until the
loth of July, 1623, that he executed the deeds, and on that occasion,
says she, " Did my Lord in Great Dorset House (hee being then verie
sickUe) make over to mee My Jointure, of those Landes in Sussex,
the use whereof I now enjoy, and part thereof I have assigned and
made over to my two Daughters." At the time that this jointure
was actually signed, her uncle, the Earl of Bath, was also very ill,
and two days after the signature he died. His son Edward succeeded
him, and lived for thirteen years longer, when the brother of her girl
friend Frances died, and the peerage of Bath became extinct,
We have no Day-by-Day Book records after December, 1619. Our
last reference in the book is to the fact that Lord Dorset had sent
his wife a pedigree of the Sackvilles, and that she wrote a letter to
him and thanked him for it, but we know from other sources that
she was much depressed by reason of the deaths of her little boy,
and of the two infants who succeeded him, for her brother-in-law,
Sir Edward SackviUe, whom she so disUked, still remained her husband's
heir. Her fifth child, Isabella, was born in 1622, and she and her
sister Margaret lived to grow up, and to be a great source of pride
and pleasure to their mother during their lives. Lord Dorset, however,
although only thirty-four, was already in decUning health, worn out
by reckless living, extravagance and carelessness. Clarendon tells
us " his excess of expenditure in all the ways to which money could
be appUed, was such, that he so entirely consumed almost the whole
great fortune which descended to him, that when he was forced to
leave the title to his younger brother, he left, in a manner, nothing
to him to support it." ^"^ It seems likely that when Lord Dorset fell
seriously ill of his last illness, both his little girl and his wife were ill
also. Just before then, Lady Margaret was sickening for smallpox.
Her mother nursed her most carefully and patiently, and ten days
ion It is said that it was estimated from his debts that he must have spent ^loo a day for
the years during which he held the estates.
Lady Anne's First Marriage. 143
after the father's funeral the disease made itself fully apparent in
virulent form. Lady Anne therefore was not with her husband when
he died. It is clear that he had expected to get well, and in fact had
thought that he was on the high road to recovery, for early in the
morning of the 26th of March, 1624, he wrote to Lady Dorset this
letter, stiU preserved at Appleby Castle,
Sweet heart,
I thank you for your letter, I had resolved to come down to Knole, and to
have received the Blessed Sacrament, but God hath prevented it with sickness,
for on Wednesday night I fell into a fit of casting [vomiting] which held me long,
then last night I had a fit of a fever. I have for my physician Dr. Baskervile
and Dr. Fox. I thank God I am now at good ease, having rested well this
morning. I would not have you trouble yourself till I have occasion to send for
you. You shall in the meantime hear daily from me. So, with my love to you,
and God's blessing and mine to both my children, I commend you to God's
protection.
Your assured loving husband,
Richard Dorset. ^"^
It would appear by this letter that Lady Anne at that time was
certainly in a position to travel if need be, but this was written when
she was nursing her little girl, and before she actually failed ill herself.
Before noon, however, on that very day. Lord Dorset was dead. It
was Easter Sunday, and he probably h^d a sudden recurrence of
apoplexy, for the records tell us that on the " Easter Sunday, the
26th of March, 1624, about twelve o'clock at noon, died Richard
Sackville, Earl of Dorset, at Great Dorset House." Lady Anne, in
her diary records the fact that he was buried at Withyhami"^ " with
his son Buckhurst, my child, and many other of the Sackvilles, his
ancestors and their wives." He was, says she, " just 35 years old at
his death, and I about 10 months younger, but I was not with him
when he died, being then very sick and ill myself at Knole house in
Kent, where I and my two daughters then lay."
1"! The body of this letter is in the hand of an amanuensis, and evidently written from dictation.
The signature alone is in Lord Dorset's handwriting. It must have been written early in the
morning. Its date — so important — ^has hitherto escaped notice.
102 jjij Xomb is no longer to be seen. It with others was destroyed by the fire which broke
out in the church in 1663 and burned many of the finest tombs in the Sackville Chapel. The
body rested at Croydon in an Inn, en route from London to Withyham and Lady Anne on one
occasion when her daughter Lady Thanet stayed at this Inn, reminded her in a letter that it
was the very place where her own father's body had once lain.
144
Lady Anne.
He was succeeded by his brother, .Sir Edward Sackville,i°^ who was
at that time, she tells us, " behond sea at fflorence in Italy," he " came
through France into England about the latter end of May following,"
and " never went out of England after." He became, she adds,
" a great man at the Court, both in the little time that King James
Lived and Reigned after, and in King Charles his time. Soe as hee
was Lord chamberlen to his Queene and Knight of the Garter, and,"
says she, " a powerful enemy against me."
Of her husband she speaks generously. They were warmly attached
to one another, although there were these constant difficulties between
them, and she not only had a great deal of affection for him, but a
considerable amount of admiration for his character. It was natural
that she objected to what she calls his " excessive prodigality in
housekeeping " and other " noble ways at Court, as tilting, masking,
and the like," but she was always ready to praise his " sense of justice,"
his "sweet disposition," and his "valiant behaviour," and so thoroughly
did she carry out her feelings concerning him that she provided in
excellent fashion for his two natural daughters. One of them died in
her minority, but to the other she not only in later days gave a hand-
some portion, but also, when the girl married a clergyman named
Belgrave, provided a living worth £140 per annum for him. It is
pleasant to reflect that the last letter which passed between husband
and wife was of so agreeable and affectionate a character.
"' It was of this Earl that it is said " he toolj so to heart the murder of Charles I. that he
never again stirred from his house, and died in 1633 in his own room,
145
CHAPTER VIII.
LADY ANNE'S LETTERS TO HER MOTHER.
THERE is at Appleby Castle a little packet of Lady Anne's
letters to her mother, written when she was Countess of
Dorset. They had evidently been carefuUy preserved by
Lady Cumberland, and possibly were amongst the papers in the trunk
which was removed to Knole, and the contents sorted out there. It
may perhaps be well to consider these letters together, in this chapter,
inasmuch as they extend over quite a short space of time, the earliest
being dated June i6th, 1614, and the last, April 26th, 1616. The
earliest is dated June i6th, 1614, and refers to Lady Cumberland's
visit to London, when it was not possible for her daughter to come
and meet her, as she explains.
^ I am most glad to hear of your safe coming all this long journey, but will
by no means suffer your Ladyship to take the pains to come to this house, for
by the grace of God, I will attend your coming at Austin Friars, when your
Ladyship shall see your nephew Russell, who had made a purpose to have
met you out of the town, and thought to have gone in my coach, but my Lord
hath taken it down to Lewes, so as we both are disappointed. Neither can
I send you so much as a horse, for my Lord hath taken all with him, saving
my litter horses. My Lady Terete [the word is not clear in the MS.] and
many ladies will meet your Ladyship with their coaches as far as Highgate,
where I and my cousin Russell will wish ourselves, that we might have the
pleasure to see you as soon as any, but our hard fortunes will not permit it.
To this holograph letter there is a postscript, in which she says
About 3 o'clock, we will not fail to be at your house, to attend your coming
thither.
For easier perusal we have rendered all these letters into modem spelling. Lady Anne's
spelling and her use of capitals are at times ambiguous and bewildering.
146 Lady Anne.
The next letter was not dated in the original, but, some years after-
wards, Lady Anne added a note, saying that it was written from
London in 1615. It is a New Year's letter. She says : —
I intended to have wrought a piece of work with my own hands, for a New
Year's gift for your Ladyship, but this has been so troublesome a year with me,
as I had neither leisure to work, nor do anything else, but weep and grieve,
therefore I beseech your Ladyship to be pleased to receive these pillabers [that
is to say, pillow-cases] as a New Year's gift, and poor remembrance of my duty
and aSection, with my wishes of many and happy years of long life and con-
tentment to you, and that we may both have the upper hand of our enemies,
and have a joyful and happy meeting, and that it may be quickly, for I ever
groan under the burden.
The letters invariably end with a humble desire, on the part of
Lady Anne for her mother's blessing, but in this particular instance,
she concludes " Thus humbly desiring your blessing to me and to
your goddaughter, I rest your Ladyship's obedient loving daughter,"
showing that Lady Cumberland was godmother to her daughter's
eldest child, Lady Margaret.
Following this, there is another holograph letter without a date,
which would appear, by varioiis external circumstances, to belong
to this period. In it she says,
I have moved my Lord about this hundred pounds for the chain, and he willed
me to let your Ladyship understand that, though he must borrow it himself,
yet, if you will send him the name of the goldsmith and the sign Ithat is to say
in all probability, a pass-word, or some method of identification] I will send to
Lindsey to disburse the sum, and with all desires that the chain may be sold,
either with the goldsmith's seller or yours, because Lindsey shall have the
chain in his keeping till the money be repaid, therefore I pray your Ladyship
send your footman with all speed, and to my Lord, that he may send directions
to Lindsey.
This appears to be relative to some temporary loan, for which the
chain was perhaps to be the security.
In January, 1615, Lady Anne was at BoUbroke, resting after the
excitement of Christmas, and she writes to her mother to say : —
Our great Christmas is now finished, where we have had most of the gentlemen
in this country, and a great many down from London. I had Mrs. Matt Terete,*
* Is this the Lady Terete mentioned in the first letter, perhaps so called in playful fashion (?).
Lady Anne's Letters to her Mother. 147
because her grandfather and grandmother should take it kindly, for your Lady-
ship knows how much I have been beholden to them. My Lord and I do both
go to London this term, where my sister Beauchamp is to lie in, so as I think
we shall stay there all this term, and a good while after. For any composition
between my Lord and my uncle of Cumberland, assure yourself that I will
send your Ladyship word when there is any such thing, and whatsoever I
know, your Ladyship shall have know it presently. I beseech you inquire how
my uncle of Cumberland hath his health, and whether he comes abroad, for I am
credibly told that he is sometimes besides his wits, but that his son does what
he can to conceal it, lest his father should beggar him, for his credit is much
decayed at the Court, because his purse is much decayed. I must needs write
your Ladyship word that John Cadell hath two fine pups, which my Lady
Margaret SackvUle will send you at the spring of the year, for I must needs
tell you that they be her jewels and not mine. They shall come down with other
quick cattle, which will be a great wonder in Westmorland.
This was not the first reference to puppies. There were already
two allusions to them in the Knole diary. In March, 1617, she had
mentioned that a certain dog Couch had puppied in the morning,
and in another place records as an event of importance the death
of her little girl's dog " Lady Margaret's old beagle."
Lady Anne was always interested in animals, and was careful to
have both her favourite dog and her favourite cat represented beside
her in the large picture at Appleby. It is of interest also to notice
that in one of her books of accounts, she arranged, in a statement of
the expenses of the household, that so much per day was to be allotted
to providing food for the cat.
Within a few days after the date of the last letter, we have another,
acknowledging the receipt of a present from Lady Cumberland for her
little goddaughter.
I received your Ladyship's kind letter by Ralph, and the delicate fine little
gloves that you have sent to your goddaughter and to her nurse, which hath
made them both finer than ever they were. I humbly thank God, the child
prospers and grows well, and according to your Ladyship's wonted prayers.
She begins to break out very much upon her head, which I hope wUl make her
very healthful. She hath yet no teeth come out, but they are most of them swelled
in the flesh, so that now and then they make her very froward. Master Ballin-
ford hath been with me, and tells me he hath that rich jev/el of diamonds, which
your Ladyship was pleased to bestow upon me and the child at the christening^
I humbly thank your Ladyship for it, I will keep it safe, and whensoever you
have need to use money, you shall have it for a pawn at a day's warning.
148 Lady Anne.
I will let Ralph or Kendall have fifty pounds that it may be paid to Mrs. Perce's
daughter, for I hear she is a very rating paltry woman. My Lord doth grow
much in debt, so as money is not so plentiful with me as it hath been, but what-
soever I have, you shall be sure to know. I humbly thank you for the ofier
of sending those letters to me which your Ladyship received out of Germany,
but I would not have you send them, for I have letters myself often from thence.
I received a letter by Master Bellis from your Ladyship, with many other papers
which I will answer the next week.
During the next month or so, Lady Anne had evidently been away,
probably to Bath, and then returned to BoUbroke, and wrote to her
mother, on the ist of May, 1615. It was clear that she was a little
anxious at not having heard from her mother, for the letter had been
following her about while she was away from home. She says: —
I have now returned from the Bath to my own house in the country, where
I thank God I find my little one well, though I much feared it, for I have found
your Ladyship's words true about the nurse had for her, for she hath been one
of the most unhealthfuUest women that I think ever was, and so extremely
troubled with the toothache and rheums and swelling in her face as could be,
and one night she fell very ill, and was taken like an ague, so as she had but
little milk left, and so I was enforced to send for the next woman that was by
to give my child suck, whom hath continued with her ever since, and I thank
God the child agrees so well with her milk as can be, so I mean not to change
her any more. It is a miracle to me that the child should prosper so well, con-
sidering the change of her milk. She is but a little one, I confess, but a livelier
and merrier thing was there never yet seen. If I durst be so bold, I would tell
your Ladyship that I take it somewhat unkindly that you have been so long
without writing to me, for I was never so long without a letter from you, never
since you went into the North as now I have been. Master Worledge doth some-
time remember me with a line or two, and so by that I hear of your welldoing,
else I should have feared that your Ladyship had not been well, but I put no
doubt that I shall receive letters from you by Ralph Conniston this term,
although I shall be, I think, at London myself.
Only a couple of days afterwards, she writes again from BoUbroke
to her mother, because meantime the long expected letter had arrived.
This day Master Southwick brought me a long and kind letter from your
Ladyship, which did much rejoice my heart. He was at the Bath to look for me,
but I was come from thence two days before his coming, and so he followed
me to BoUbroke, which was a long and a painful journey. I perceive by your
Ladyship's letter that you do much esteem him, and therefore I showed him
^11 tlje kindness and favour I could, and gave him three 20s. pieces, and have
Lady Anne's Letters to her Mother. 149
promised him to speak to my Lord that he may be one of his chaplains, but
I fear my request for that matter will not prevail, for my Lord hath his number
already, and is very doubtful in having more. He told me of a fall your Ladyship
had when you were upon the leads at Brougham, when you hurt your hand,
and if the providence of God had not been, it would have been much worse,
and that your Ladyship hath been something troubled with the rheum in your
eyes. I hope these threatenings of ill will not make you out of love with West-
morland, but rather make you believe that God will in all other things as well
as in this, keep you from evils and never suffer your enemies to triumph over
you. For my coming into the North, assure yourself, if it be possible for me
to bring it to pass, I will be there, before this summer be at an end, and when
I shall hear how this jury goes, and have spoken with Ralph Conniston, I shall
be able to write you more certain word, for that which your Ladyship writes
me word of about the Queen, I will follow your advice, and you need not fear
it, for I shall be as great with her as ever. Thus desiring your Ladyship's blessing
to me and mine, who is very well after the change of her nurse, and grows every
day more like your Ladyship than other.
Ten days after this, from the same place, there went another letter.
I have not been in London all this time myself, so as Ralph could not deliver
your Ladyship's letters to me himself, but Master Herdson came down hither
and so brought them down to me. I perceive by one of them that your Ladyship
did send up the keys of those places where the writings was, and it was your
pleasure I should go with that Master Bamford and Ralph, but my not being in
town hath stopped me from that. You will hear by your servant Ralph how
business hath passed, and how Serjeant Hutton hath taken him up in the open
Court, in which, in my opinion, shews more malice than wit. My Lord William
shows himself very forward in my business, which makes me the more grieve
at the unkindness between your Ladyship and him. I beseech your Ladyship,
if it be possible, let it amend, and let there be love and friendship between you
and him, as there had wont to be. For my going to the Queen, I will follow
your Ladyship's advice as soon as I go to London, though she hath used me
strangely. I hear that she has fallen into her old sickness again, and that her
legs be as ill as ever. For my being with child, I can send your Ladyship no
word of it, but assure yourself, as soon as I have the least suspicion of any such
matter, you shall hear, for now I have had one, I shall not be so afraid to speak
of it as I was at the first. I am most glad to hear that my cousin Clifford's
wife was not with child, as it was confidently reported by their followers.
It is clear from this letter that she misunderstood the position taken
up by Lord William Howard, and that her mother, who was on the
spot, and often saw him, had realised far more clearly that he was not
thoroughly friendly towards her, but that he was much more disposed
150 Lady Ann:e.
to assist Lord Cumberland. The frequent references to him in the
diary, prove that this was the case, and that as long as he expected
Lord Cumberland to win, he was ready to assist him, but when
at last he thought there was a chance of Lady Anne being
successful, he took a different line, and then, as we have already
noted. Lord Dorset, who was of sharper perception in this way than
his wife, realised that he would not get so much assistance as hereto-
fore, and started a quarrel with him. Certain documents which at
this moment were necessary to the lawsuit, were evidently in Lady
Cumberland's possession, and she desired her daughter to have them.
A little later on, we learn that Lady Anne was able to make use of
the keys that her mother sent up, and in the next letter we find
that she returned these keys to her mother. To the letter just
quoted, there is this postscript.
When I was at the Bath, I wrote a letter, and sent a footman on purpose
with it to my Cousin Fitzwarren,* to Tavistock. He wrote me a very good
and a kind letter back again, and is better in mind and body than he hath
been these three years, and there is some hope of his coming up to London,
which I know your Ladyship will be glad of. He took my sending extremely
kindly.
On the loth of June, also from BoUbroke, Lady Anne wrote to her
mother about the keys and also about a portrait of herself which had
been painted in miniature.
Madam,
I have returned the keys of those writings which your Ladyship sent me,
again to you, and for all the state of my business, Ralph can inform your Lady-
ship more perfectly than I can write and how my Lord William Howard hath
showed himself very constant to me in this business, therefore, if it was not a
thing too much contrary to your mind, I would humbly desire your Ladyship
to pass by those unkindnesses that heretofore have been offered you, and to
go to see his lady, and so to give him many thanks for his favour to me. He
hath parted with that rogue Bemond, which was once your Ladyship's man,
so as it seems to me he is very desirous of your love and friendship, and your
Ladyship knows Solomon himself says, " It is wisdom for a man to pass by an
offence," but I refer it wholly to your pleasure. I have sent by Ralph my
picture done in little,* which some says is very like me, and others say, it does
» (?) Edward son of the Earl of Bath, and afterwards 6th Lord Fitzwarine and 4th Earl of
Bath.
* Probably the one now belonging to Lord De Clifford and illustrated here.
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26th March, ifi24
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Lady Anne's Letters to her Mother. 151
me rather wrong than flatters me. I know you will accept the shadow of her
house, whose substance is come from yourself. I hope you will requite me
with the same kindness, and let me have yours, whenever you come up to
London, or soever any that can draught a picture comes into those parts where
now you are. For my so much desired journey of coming to your Ladyship.
I can send you no good news, for my Lord will not by any means give his consent
that I should go, till the business between my uncle of Cumberland and him
be ended. This necessary cares me from that I most desire. I hope God will
make our meeting joyful, though it be long deferred, for never was there thing
more desired of than that is by me. Lady Margaret Sackville hath sent your
Ladyship two asses, and one of her beagles, which is John's puppy, and I hope
he will be a good water dog.
By November of that year Lady Anne had come up to London, and
then, largely on account of the illness of her Uttle girl, had returned
to Bollbroke to see the child and had come back again to town.
She writes to her mother from Dorset House on the loth of November,
1615, and sajTS that : —
On the 29th of the last month I was sfent for to Bollbroke in all haste for
the poor child was extremely ill with her teeth, and so I carried Dr. Barker
down with me, who gave the nurse and her some things that he carried down
with him, and I thank God she is so well amended as I could wish or desire,
and begins to prattle and go. Last night I returned to London with all the
whole family and the kindred of my Lord, who hath been all at Bollbroke,
there to solemnise the funeral of that good blessed woman that is buried in
Buckhurst church, my old Lady Somerset.^ John Scott was there amongst
them, and often remembers your Ladyship's health by drinking to you and
speaking of you with much commendation. For the news of the town and wonder
of the world, this business of my Lord of Somerset and his Lady, I will forbear
to write and leave them to the relation of this honest bearer, Mr. Clapham,
for my eyes are still very sore and all bloodshot, pr else would I have writ your
Ladyship a far longer letter. Master Clapham can also tell your Ladyship
of the messages passed between John Tallner and me. My Lord is still earnest
to press me to the finishing of this matter with my uncle of Cumberland, but
by the power of God I will continue resolute and constant. I humbly thank
you for the letter you have sent me by Sir John Bonner, who seems to speak
very honestly of this business.
Ten days after, again from London, there is a further letter to Lady
Cxmiberland, relative to some business.
' Perhaps the second wife of the attainted ist Duke of Somerset (?)
152 Lady Anne.
Now the term is almost done, and thus my Lord, as he cannot bring the bus-
iness of my uncle of Cumberland to pass, he is desirous to go into the country,
and stay there tUl a day or two before Christmas, which desire of his I will rather
further than hinder, because I shall by that means see your little goddaughter,
whom, I thank God, doth grow a very fine child. My Lord to her is a very kind,
loving, and dear father, and in everything will I commend him, saving in this
business of my land, wherein I think some evil spirit works, for in this he is as
violent as is possible, so as I must either do it next term, or else break friendship
and love with him. God look upon me and deliver me, for this last term I have
lived in fear and terror daily, with griefs and terrors daily, which have made
my eyes so sore as I dare not yet write much, but I must be sparing of them for
a while. For your wise and Christian letter to the judges, I have told Ralph
how my Lord deceived me of it, so as I wUl not write it, to spare my blind eyes.
I fear I shall not write any more to your Ladyship until Christmas, because of
my being in the country, therefore I crave your pardon for it.
To this letter, which was written just at the time when a bitter
controversy was taking place between the husband and wife, and
when Lady Anne was grieving over the constant disputes concerning
her lands, there is a postscript mentioning that Lieutenant Sir G.
Elwes * W£LS that day hung at Tower Hill " for which," says she,
" my Lady Tyrwit ' and sister Phillips is extraordinarily sorry." The
following month Lady Anne was, as she expected, in the country, but
was able to write to her mother. The letter is dated the 6th of
December, and she says ; —
I wrote you word in my last letter that the next I wrote should be longer,
but no other things can I write you but the continuance of my Lord's earnest
desire to take money, and to realise my right in the land, but I will do what-
soever is to be done to change his mind, though I fear me it is impossible, and
yet we see continually that time brings unlikely things to pass, and so I hope
at length his mind may change, but howsoever, I beseech you neither trouble
nor grieve yourself at it, so long as you live and are there, there is still some
hope for me. Here hath been some speech in London that my uncle of Cumber-
land hath been a little troubled in his senses, and that for a week or a fortnight,
he was little better than mad, I beseech you inquire of it, and write me word,
for I am fain to know the certainty whether there was any such thing or no.
My Lady Bedford is become a new courtier again, and as it is thought, will
' Sir Ger\'.ise Elwes, Lieut, of the Tower, executed for " being privy to the death of Sir
Thomas Overburie."
' Elizabeth daughter of Sir Edward Tyrwhitt and wife to " Gervase Elways," second son
of Sir Gervase.
Lady Anne's Letters to her Mother. 153
quite leave her house and poor husband, and be a continual abider there.
He is still weak and sick, yet the physicians say he may live this many years.
For my cousin Fitzwarren, he is worse than ever he was, and, I think, whatsoever
they say of him, there is little hope of his admendment, for, though Master
Hinson be dead, yet those that are in his place are the same to my poor cousin
if not worse, yet never a whit better.
In this letter she requests her mother to pardon her writing, which
she calls " scribbling," as the hour was very late, and in conclusion
says that her little girl prospers as well as can be, " and my Lord is
as fond of her as can be, and calls her his mistress." The last three
letters relate to the next year. The first has not a date on it, but
Lady Anne in later years has endorsed it with her intimation when
it was written. It is a New Year's letter to her mother.
I am bold to send you these poor presents as a token of the New Year, and
withal send your Ladyship the wishes of all comforts and happinesses your
heart can desire, that those castles at Appleby and Brougham that in themselves
be so melancholy, may yet be places o|j joy and contentment to you, and that
the time be not very long before we meet^-but that either some blessed occasion
may draw you hither, or else some happy accident cause my coming into the
North, which, if it be God's will, I should be inost glad of.
Then a few days afterwards, January 20th, 1616, a further letter
is sent.
The time draws on apace, and my Lord is more and more earnest with me
to make a final end of this business of my uncle of Cumberland, and persists
that, if I do it not, he will go into France and leave me, so that I am now in
a narrow strait, and know not which way to turn myself. My Cousin Russell
would have me do it, and uses all the persuasion he can to that end. He hath
sent you a letter to that purpose, which he desired me to send with mine.
I beseech you send me an answer with all speed you can, for I shall be earnestly
pressed to do it, or else absolutely to deny it, which will make such a breach
between my Lord and me, as will not easily be mended. I will do nothing
without your Ladyship's knowledge, therefore I beseech you, let me know
your resolution as soon as possibly you may. We have a changing world here,
and I hope for the better, for my worthy Lady of Shrewsbury ^ is come out
of the Tower, and hath her full liberty. My Lord of Pembroke is Lord Cham-
berlain. Sir George Villiers ° is Master of the Horse, and my Lord of Worcester "
8 Widow of Gilbert, seventh Earl, imprisoned on siLspicion of having connived at the flight
of her niece Arbeila Stuart .
' Sir Geo. Villiers of Brokesby, afterwards Lord WhaddoD, Viscount Villiers, Earl, Marquess
and eventually Duke, of Buckingham.
" Edward, 4th Earl, K.G., Privy Seal 1616-1628.
154 Lady Anne.
is Lord Privy Seal, with a pension of fifteen hundred pounds a year. My Lady
of Efiingham " desires her love and service to be remembered to your Ladyship,
and now her husband is dead she is like to have suits in Law, for the rights of
her daughter my cousin, Bess Howard, she doth resemble you in fortune as
well as in blood.
Then to this letter she adds the postscript which I have already
quoted,
I was lately at Chenies, my Lord of Bedford's house, with my cousin Russell,
to see the tomb which I have made of my own charges for my dear cousin Frances
Bourcher.
The last of the letters was written from Knole the 26th of
April, 1616.
I received a little letter from you, but yet full of comfort, because it brings
me word that you are much better than you were, for I assure you that there
can be no more comfortable news in this world to my uncle Cumberland and
his party than to hear of your being sick, or of the least hope of death, which
is the thing they much gape after, but I hope they shall never live to see. It is
true that they have brought their matters so about that I am in the greatest
strait that ever poor creature was, but [she adds, with thai pathetic affection
for her husband which she retained through her life} whatsoever you may
think of my Lord, I have found him, do find him, and think I shall find him,
the best, and most worthy man that ever breathed, therefore, if it be possible,
I beseech you, have a better opinion of him, if you knew all I do, I am sure
you would believe this that I write, but I durst not impart my mind about
when I was with you, because I found you so bitter against him, or else I could
have told you so many arguments of his goodness and worth, that you should
have seen it plainly yourself. My child, your little self, is well, 1 thank God,
and often looks at the fine jewel you sent her {referred to in an earlier letter'],
I pray your Ladyship, let me hear from you as often as you can, and so shall
you from me. Be assured that I will stand as constantly to my birthright
as is possible for me, but I can do no more than I can, therefore I can promise
you no certainty of these matters. God assist me, and uphold my cause, to
His holy protection I leave both your Ladyship and myself.
All these letters are holograph, and as a rule are carefully written,
but in one or two instances where Lady Anne says that her sight was
bad, there is evidence of this in the handwriting. They are all tied
up with ribbon, and sealed, but the seals are not alwa)^ the same.
•^ Lady Margaret Stewart, daughter of James, Earl of Moray, and second wife of Charles,
Lord Howard of Effingham.
Lady Anne's Letters to her Mother. 155
In some instances, she used the crest of the Cliffords, Eark of Cumber-
land, from a crest coronet, a demi-dragon with wings addorsed, and this
crest is placed in a lozenge, and so was evidently intended for a lady's
use, and perhaps had been engraved before her marriage with Lord
Dorset. Other of the letters are sealed with one of the crests of
the SackviUe family, which the Earls of Dorset at that time used,
deriving it from the supporters granted to their arms on their being
raised to the peerage, a leopard, rampant argent, armed and langued
gules, and above this crest appears the earl's coronet. Others bear
the wyvern of the Earls of Cumberland, but not set in a diamond,
and these appear to have been sealed with a seal that must have
belonged to her father, while one amongst the mmaber bears a fanciful
device on the seal, a winged hare.
The only other letter which belongs to this period of her first marriage
is a touching one addressed to Lady Anne by Lord Dorset, written
from Dorset House on the 13th of May, 1622. It is perhaps undesirable
to quote this letter in fuU, as it is written with the extraordinary
frankness of phraseology that was common in those da}^, but the
greater part of it reads thus ; —
Sweet Love,
The news you sent me was the best that you could send, or I could have.
I send you Mrs. Lindsey as you desire [probably a servant or personal attendant]^
the half-year's allowance for my Lady Margaret, your hundred pounds, and
Mr. Marsh, as soon as he can be found, shall be sent, and it is twenty to one
I will not forswear coming to you ere it shall be long. God bless you and my
Lady Margaret Farewell.
Your very loving husband,
(Signed) Richard Dorset.
156
CHAPTER IX.
WIDOWHOOD.
IT may be well to give the brief account of Lady Anne's widowhood
in her own words. " I lived " she says, " Widdow to this Noble
Richard Sackville, Earleof Dorsett about sixe yeares, two monthes
and fower or five dales over. Most part of which time I lived with
my two Daughters, either in Cheynie Howse in Buckingham^re,
the Chiefe seat of my Mother's ffather and grandfather, or in Boll-
broke House in Sussex, my chiefe Jojmture Howse, or at London,
in severall hyred Howses there, as in Tuttle [Tothill] Streete Howse
in Westminster, and in St. Bartholomewes in a Howse there, which
was auntientlie part of the Pryorie and besides for a while, I and my
eldest Daughter lay togeather in Woburne Howse in Bedfordshire,
the August after her ffather's death, in which Howse died my Grand-
mother of Bedford.
I must not forgett, but acknowledge with much thanckfullness to
God, how in May, alittle after my first Lord's death, in Knole howse
in Kent, the month before I went from thence to Live at Cheynes,
I had the smallpoxe so extremelie and violently that I was a^
deathes Doore and Little hope of life in mee. Which Infection I
tooke of my eldest childe who had had it there in great extremitie
some twelve dales after her Father was buryed. Which disease did
so matter my face, that it Confirmed more and more my mynd never
to marrie againe. Though the providence of God caused mee after-
wards to alter that resolution.
And just a year after the Deathe of my first Lord, Dyed King James,
I then lyeing in Cheynie Howse in Buckinghamshire with both my
Daughters, from whence I and my two children removed to Bollbroke
House in Sussex to live there for a good while. Where I must not
WIDOWHOOD. 157
Reckon it, amongst the least of God's goodness and deliverances to
mee That on the sixt day of May in one Thowsand sixe hundred and
twentie-sixe, When I had then newly received my Ladie-Daie Rents,
and had some mony in the House before, I scaped myraculouslie by
God's Providence an attempt of my Enemyes to have robbed mee.
Besides the extreme fright it would have putt mee to, had it not bene
timely recovered and prevented, by one who accidentallie saw them
enter in at the window, and it was thought to have bene plotted by
a great man, then my extreame Enemy. But God deHvered me.
In August one Thowsand sixe hundred twentie-eight, were the
first claimes made by waie of Law and Advise of CounseU after the
Awards before-mentioned to mayntaine my right in the Landes of
my inheritance, in Craven and Westmorland, I then lying with both
my Daughters in Cheynie House in Buckinghamshire. Which claims
are entered in this my Booke of Records of my time.
The one and twentieth of Aprill in one thousand sixe hundred and
twentie njme, in the Church of St. Bartholomew, had I the happiness
to see my oldest Daughter marryed to John, Lord Tufton. There
being present at the said Marriage my selfe and my youngest daughter,
and the sayd Lord Tufton's Father and Mother, and my worthie
Cozen German Francis RusseU, after Earle of Bedford (who gave her
in marriage) and manie others. This John, Lord Tufton, came to
be Earle of Thanett about two years and two monthes and some
Fowrtene dales after his marriage with my Daughter, by the death
of his Father Nicholas, Earle of Thanett. Which Daughter of myne
hath now by her sayd Lord tenne Children all living, sixe sonnes and
fowr daughters. So as God made Her a fruitful Mother, according
to the prayers of my Blessed Mother."
This is all Lady Anne teUs us of her widowed hfe. Little Lady
Margaret was only ten years old when she had this terrible attack
of smallpox. We know from other sources that her mother nursed
her most anxiously for many weeks, and did not take the infection
until the child was out of danger, when she herself was so seriously ill
that there was hardly any hope of her recovery. As soon as it was
possible, she left Knole, retiring, as she tells us, into the country with
her two Uttle girls, and for many years lived a quiet life. Her brother-
in-law had succeeded to the Dorset title and estates, and was an
extremely popular man at Court, both with King James and King
158 Lady Anne.
Charles. Whether or not he was responsible for the robbery to which
she refers it is impossible to say, but one would be disposed to think
that it was not so, and that it was merely an ordinary attempt at
theft. Lady Anne was always so prejudiced against Sir Edward
Sackville that it is easy to understand how she should attribute this
further trouble to his agency. She knew also that for some years
he was short of money, due to the extravagance of his brother, and
that the rents -she had received would have come in conveniently for
his purpose.
She speaks in terms of great joy of her daughter's wedding. Lady
Margaret was a youthful bride, as she was not yet fifteen when she
was married, and her bridegroom was only twenty. Lord Thanet
had come of an old and important Sussex family, the Tuftons of
Rainham, but their honours had only been of recent date. The first
earl was knighted on the accession of King James in 1603. In 1626
he was created first Baron Tufton of Tufton in Sussex, and two years
later, only a few months before the marriage of his son, he became
the first Earl of Thanet. His wife was Lady Frances Cecil, daughter
of the Earl of Exeter. Lord Thanet died, as Lady Anne records,
in 1632, but his wife Hved for some years afterwards, as her death did
not occur till 1658. The marriage appears to have proved a happy
one, and as we shall see further on, there are constant references to
Lord and Lady Thanet in Lady Anne's diary, and to their children,
notably to one of them, John Tufton, afterwards fourth earl and six-
teenth Lord Clifford, who was evidently a particular favourite with
his grandmother. The family was, as Lady Anne mentions, a large
one. It may be weU, perhaps, in this place, to refer briefly to it,
more complete details being found in the pedigree annexed to this
volume.
The eldest son was Nicholas, who was bom at Bollbroke in 1631,
and who eventually succeeded his father as third Earl and fifteenth
Lord Clifford. He married in 1664, Lady Elizabeth Boyle, daughter
to the Earl of Burlington and Cork, and he died in 1679, she surviving
him till* 1725. The second was Anne, who was born at her grand-
mother's residence, Wilton House, on the 4th September, 1634, but
she died on the 5th of October following, having been unfortunately
" overlaid by her nurse." The third was Margaret, who was born
at the Thanet residence, Hothfield in Kent, in 1636. She married
WIDOWHOOD. 159
in 1653, George, afterwards third Lord Coventry, and had a family
of five children. The fourth was John, who was bom at Wilton in
1638, and who, owing to the fact that his elder brother Nicholas had
no family, succeeded him as fourth Earl and sixteenth Lord CUfford.
There are many references in the diary to the visits he paid to his
grandmother. He died in 1680 without issue. He was succeeded in
the earldom by the fifth child, Richard, who was bom in London
at Thanet House in 1640, and on the death of his brother became
fifth Earl and seventeenth Lord CUfford. He too died unmarried in
1683. Then came a daughter Frances, born in 1642. She married
in 1664 Henry Drax of Boston, and died in the same year in childbirth.
The next child was Thomas, who was two years her junior, and he
also succeeded to the earldom of Thanet, his three elder brothers having
left no issue. In 1683 he became sixth Earl and eighteenth Lord
Clifford. The following year he married Lady Katherine Cavendish,
the daughter of Henry, first Duke of Newcastle, and he died in 1729,
and was succeeded in the earldom, by his nephew. The eighth was
Sackville, who was bom at Hothfield in 1646, was a Colonel in the army,
and married in 1686, Elizabeth the daughter of Ralph Wilbraham. She
died in 1714, and he in 1721, while his brother Thomas was Earl of
Thanet, and the successor was his eldest son Sackville, who succeeded
eight years afterwards. Then there came a daughter, Cecily, born
in 1648. She w£is the first wife of Christopher first Viscount Hatton,
and died in 1675. The next child was George, who was never
married. He was bom in 1650, and died at the age of twenty of a
wound received in war in Germany. The two youngest children were
Mar^^ who was bom in 1652, and Anne, who was born in 1654. The
first-named married in 1670 Sir WUliam Walter, and died three years
afterwards, and the second married Sir Samuel Grimston in 1673,
and had one child, who lived but a year. Lady Mary Walter had three
children, who all died in infancy. Lady Cecily had also three children
two of whom died in infancy, but the eldest, Anne, lived and married
Daniel, Earl of Nottingham and Winchelsea.
The succession of the Earls of Thanet by one brother after another
is rather a curious circumstance, because it happened twice in the
history of that earldom, for the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth Earls
were all brothers, and the ninth, tenth and eleventh Earls were also
brothers, the eleventh being the last Earl of Thanet.
i6o
CHAPTER X.
LADY ANNE'S SECOND MARRIAGE.
IF we remember the difficulties that Lady Anne went through with
her first husband, their constant disagreements, and the anxiety
that she had by reason of his action concerning her estates, it
seems curious that she should have ventured a second time into the
bond of matrimony. Moreover, she herself had said that her face
had been so " martered " by the attack of virulent smallpox that she
was confirmed more and more in her mind that " she never would
marry again," and then, as if to increase all our bewilderment, she
selected for her second husband a man who was already well-known
about Court as being violent and contemptible, indeed almost crazy,
contemptuous of all culture, careless and cross, false, cruel and
cowardly, one in every respect utterly unlike her first husband, and
with hardly a grace to recommend him, save in his appearance.
He was a person whose conduct was outrageous, a man of violent
passion and foul-mouthed, one who had already excited great dislike,
and who was to develope in later days as a weak and almost fraudulent
turncoat, and to die amidst almost universal execration.
No doubt Lady Anne herself was an attractive personality. She
was not yet forty, and was therefore in the prime of her life. She was
possessed of a substantial jointure from her husband, and a certain
amount of money, although we do not know how much ; in her own
right. She had in addition the possibiUty of succeeding in reversion
to considerable estates, although this possibility was a remote one,
by reason of the youth of her cousin. Lord CUfford. She had probably
exaggerated the effect of the small pox, for if the portraits which
Vandyck was to paint of her, and if the miniature which also repre-
sented her at this period of her life, speak with any degree of veracity,
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. i6i
she was certainly a handsome woman. She was, as we know from a
curious piece of evidence which will be referred to in a later chapter,
a person of extremely short stature (4 ft. loin. only) but must have
been possessed of a considerable dignity of carriage, which partly
made up for her lack of height. She belonged, of course, to the
great family of the Cliffords, and had numerous relatives and friends
occupying important positions at Court. Surely, however, she must
have known something of the personal character of the man whom
she was about to marry, for she had met him as Earl of Montgomery
many times, had taken part in various masques with him, and had
been associated at Court with him and with his first wife, on many
occasions. It may be that she was carried away by his own personal
attractions, which undoubtedly were considerable ; or by a certain
blunt honesty, which his coarse language seemed to set forth ; or
perhaps swept off her feet by passionate protestations on his part,
that she was inclined to beUeve were true and sincere. We can-
not tell. Suffice it that she married him, that for a while she
was infatuated with him, and that she considered herself wholly to
blame in the matter, and exonerated him from any condemnation
in connection with this strange marriage.
To her friends, the marriage appears to have been as mysterious
as it is to us at the present day. There are many references to it,
and all of them speak in terms of surprise. The general opinion
seems to have been that she rather exaggerated her own want of
attraction and her poverty, and that her jointure from Lord Dorset
was larger than she was inclined to announce, that the money to
which she had succeeded from her mother, and the legacy which she
had received from her father, were all properly secured, and further-
more that she had been thrifty in the management of the income
derived from aU these several amounts. Both her daughters had
received substantial portions from their father, so that, although he
had charged the estates to a considerable amount, and had wasted
all the ready money that was available, yet there must have been
at his death a larger fortune than some of the chroniclers are
incHned to accept. It is of course possible, and perhaps almost
probable, that a portion at least of the money paid by the Earl of
Cumberland to Lord Dorset, had been settled upon the daughters,
M
i62 Lady Anne.
but in any case, it is clear from their father's will, that they did have
substantial portions, and that being so, it is reasonable to assume
that the widow's jointure was equally substantial.
If we wonder at Lady Anne, we may also question, why did Lord
Pembroke choose a person so antithetical in every way to himself?
She was studious and bookish, he cared nothing whatever for study ;
she was devout, and he irreligious ; she was stately, solemn, grave ;
he was flippant, cared little for anjrthing but horses and dogs, and
neither his moral character nor his language would bear scrutiny.
However, so it was. It has been suggested that " the very remoteness
of the quarry, the difficulty of the quest, and the unusual character
of the triumph, may have stimulated the jaded fancy of the most
dissolute wastrel of the Court." Possibly, however, there was another
reason on her part to which we have not yet made allusion. There
was perhaps some strong attempt being made or being planned,
with regard to her property and person, and it was thought to
have a good measure of success, because she at whom it was aimed
was an unprotected widow. It would seem likely that one of the
reasons why Lady Anne married for the second time was that she
might have a protector, a person high in influence at Court, one whom
it would not be easy to attack, and that she might thereby attain
a position that was unassailable, and a husband whom she fain hoped
would be valiant enough to take her part, and to discomfit her enemies.
She practically says as much in the summary of her diary. She there
speaks of him as one of the greatest and noblest subjects of the king,
and she says " This second marriage of myne was wonderfullie brought
to pass by the providence of God for the Crossing and disappo5mting
the envie Malice and sinister practices of my Enemyes." In another
place, where she is referring to her iUness, and to her intention not
to marry for a second time, she distinctly states " The providence
of God caused me thus to alter the resolution." As usual firmly
attached to the idea that aU the events of her life were over-ruled by
Divine Providence, she believed, with undoubted sincerity, that this
second strange and even anomalous marriage, was a part of the Divine
scheme for her protection, and for the frustration of the evil designs
of her enemies. There is no doubt that in her mind, one of these
enemies, and perhaps the most bitter of them all, was her brother-in-
Lady Anne's Second Marriage, 163
law, now Lord Dorset. It seems indeed likely that, finding himself
in difficulties with regard to the endowments that his brother had
commenced to set apart for Sackville College, he had aims upon the
lands of her jointure. Their father had left it as a definite instruction
in his wiU that Sackville College was to be founded, and that the
endowment was to be a substantial one. It is clear, from references
to which we have already aUuded, that Lord Dorset had not only
commenced the building, but had set the lawyers to work with regard
to the endowment, so as to carry out the clauses under his father's
wiU. He did not, however, live to carry out his intention, and his
estate was burdened and involved by reason of the plans he had
made. Reading between the lines, we cannot help thinking that
this surmise is correct, and that the new Lord Dorset would gladly
have seized upon the lands in Sussex which his brother had left to
the widow whom he had always disliked and distrusted; and con-
verted them into the endowments for Sackville College (or at
least into a part of them) and so relieved himself of aU further
necessity with reference to this troublesome bequest. He was
probably not her only opponent, however, because there is distinct
evidence that Henry, Lord Clifford, was still anxious to break the
reversionary clause which had appeared in his uncle's will, and to
bequeath the greater part of the estates to his own daughter. He did
manage, in some mysterious fashion, to cut off a part of the property,
but even in this, he was reckoning without his host, because the
part of the estate which he fondly believed he had cut off, and which
would at his decease descend to Lady Cork, that of Barden Tower,
she did not obtain at his death, nor so long as Lady Anne lived ; for
not only did Lady Anne seize upon it as part of the property which
had undoubtedly been entailed to her by the old entail created before
her father's time, but she retained this possession, spent money upon
the estate, restored the castle and Uved in it, and actually went so
far as to bequeath it to one of her daughters. It was a very difficult
thing, as all her opponents found out in time, to deal with this deter-
mined lady, who was uncompromising in the efforts she made with
regard to the great CUfford inheritance she valued so highly.
The second marriage took place in the church at Chenies, on the
1st of June, 1630, and Lady Anne, with the love of recognising co-
i64 Lady Anne.
incidences to which we have already referred, says " Methinks that
it is remarkable that I should be the second time marryed in that
church of Cheynis in the Vault whereof lye interred my Greate-grand-
father and Grandfather of Bedford and their wyves, Auncestors toe
my Blessed Mother, as also her sonne the Lord Robert Clifford, and
her elder sister, Anne, Countess Dowager of Warrwick, their Heire
the Ladie Frances Bourgher, Daughter to the Earle of Bathe by their
sister Elizabeth, Countess of Bathe and their nephew Edward Bassett,
third Earle of Bedford, who died without issue."
We stood recently in the old church at Chenies, at the place where
she must have been married, but there is little remaining at which
she could have looked on this memorable occasion. There is still,
fortunately, a small piece of fifteenth century stained glass which
formed part of the window behind the altar, and which belongs to the
old church, and must have been there in her time, and there are at
the west end, the brasses of the Sapcote family from whom the first
Countess of Bedford acquired the estate, and those of the Cheynes.
The church, however, has been so restored, and so altered and
changed in this restoration, that it can hardly be deemed to be the
same building as that in which Lady Anne was married. She must
however, have seen, close at hand, on her left as she stood at the altar
rails, the tombs of her great Russell ancestors, especially that magni-
ficent one, of the first Earl and Countess of Bedford, who, in the early
part of Queen Mary's reign, were buried in the chapel which the
Countess herself had founded on her own estate, and which still remains,
a unique place of sepulture in England, containing one of the grandest
series of tombs of which any family can boast, a group impressive
in its magnificence, and in the honour and dignity of the persons
whom it commemorates. Of the house where she was then residrag,
a comparatively small portion still remains. The chimneys of one
wing are undoubtedly of her period, and are beautiful in almost
every respect. The great ivy tree that clings to one wall, and the
wall to which it is attached, probably form part of the house as it
was in her time, but a large portion of the building has been altered,
and although the residence of an influential person connected with
the Duke of Bedford's estate, it has lost its dignity as a family seat.
The view, however, of the rear portion, especially of the roof, windows
o
To face page 165.
WiihiCk Ahhcy.
I.AD^' CATHERINE CAVENDISH,
afterwards Countess of Thaiiet.
WMcck Abbey.
\..\D\ CATHERINE CAVENDISH,
1678.
CATHERINE, COUNTESS OF THANET,
1666 — 1712 (seepage 442)
HI )LLI!I<()< IKE
(see page 156).
V.V^ KHUKST
(see page 112).
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. 165
and chimnejrs of that part, is impressive, and shows us that the
original building in Lady Anne's time, which is said to have been
built in the shape of an " E," must have been a large and magnificent
abode, striking in many respects, and worthy of special notice.
Lady Aime's new husband had quite recently become Earl of
Pembroke. She had known him in the old days as Earl of Mont-
gomery, but his elder brother had died, and he had succeeded to the
senior title. He was the younger son of Henry, the second earl, by
his third wife, Mary, who was the devoted sister of Sir Philip Sidney,
and from his mother's brother, he probably derived his Christian
name. His mother was a person of note, as the sister of Sir Philip
Sidney ^ could hardly fail to be. She was a well educated and highly
cultivated woman, and gave up a considerable amount of time to
literary study. She was the real founder of the library at Wilton,
and many men of letters of her period owe to the Countess of Pembroke
considerable gratitude for protection and for encouragement. She
revised and first published her brother's " Arcadia," and she also
completed at Wilton on May 15th, 1590 " The Discourse of Life and
Death " by Plessis du Mornay, published in 1592, which became in
later years one of Lady Anne's favourite books,* Furthermore she
prepared for the press, but did not publish, a metrical version of the
Psalms, upon which she and her brother had been at work for many
years. Spenser dedicated to her his " Ruines of Time " (circa 1590),
Gabriel Harvey praised her translation of du Momay's works in no
measured terms.* John Davies of Hereford acknowledged her help
in his Wittes Pilgrimage.* Dr. Donne highly commended her trans-
lation of the Psalms. Ben Jonson's Epigram addressed to the
Honoured Countess, is a panegyric upon her, and John Taylor, in his
" The Needle's Excellency " 1640 ^ commended her skiU in stitchwork,
and her wonderful success in tapestry.* No one owed more to her
* "The subject of all verse,
Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother."
8 See B.M., C. sjd. i6, and 1076b 3-
' Vide — A new letter of Notable Contents, 1593 Grosart, i, 276, B.M. iz268g.
* C 14 a 5 (I)- C 1x550-1610, B.M. 6 B.M., C $;[ h 30.
* Vide Brydges Censura literaiia, B.M. 1087, fg-iz, 1805-9 ; —
Brave Wiltou House in Wiltshire well can show
Her admirable works in arras framed
Where men and beasts, scene like trees, seem to grow
i66 Lady Anne.
encouragement than did Samuel Daniel, who had been Lady Anne's
tutor, but who, many years before he went to Skipton, had been
residing at Wilton £is tutor to William, afterwards third Earl of Pem-
broke, and had carried out some of his best literary work in that
house.' Her two sons, William and Philip were at first disposed to
share her literary tastes, and they were the " incomparable pair of
brethren " to whom the first folio of Shakespeare's works was
dedicated. They knew Shakespeare in his professional capacity of
king's servant, or superintendent of James I's company of actors,
and they were amongst his patrons, although, as has been pointed out,
there is no special evidence that Lord Pembroke came into any direct
personal relations with the poet, or was his particular patron. Both
brothers appear to have encouraged and assisted Ben Jonson. Both
of them also appear to have helped Inigo Jones, who is said to have
visited Italy at the elder brother's expense, and it was to this elder
brother that Chapman inscribed a sonnet, and that Davison in 1601
dedicated his Poetical Rhapsody. Both brothers matriculated at
New College. Oxford, but it was the elder who inherited the greater
share of his mother's and his imcle's literary instincts, while the younger
one speedily feU away from all such activities, and developed in quite
another direction.
He seems to have remained in the University a very short time,
and then, in early youth, there was a report at the Court that
he was a suitor for the hand of Mary Herbert, daughter and heir of
Sir WUliam Herbert of St. Julian's. This proposal, however, was
never carried into effect, and the lady married a kinsman of Lord
Pembroke's, Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury. A short time after
that, there was a suggestion that he should marry a royal ward, the
daughter of Sir Arthur Gorges, and it is said that his father went so
far as to offer the Queen five thousand pounds, if she would allow
this marriage to take place. The Sidney papers expressly record that
Lord Pembroke had offered " five thousand pounds in money and
jewels for the permission," under date loth of May, 1600, but on the
And art (surpass* by nature) seems ashamed
She wrought so well in Needle worke that she
Nor yet her workes shall 'ere forgotten be.
' He was a liceacei of plays in Shakespeare's time.
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. 167
31st of the same month there is a further entry to the effect that this
marriage was not to take place, and that the girl was intended for
" my Lord Howard's son." After what the records describe as " long
love and many changes " he was, in October, 1604, " privately con-
tracted to my Lady Susan (Vere, third daughter of Edward, seven-
teenth Earl of Oxford), without the knowledge of his or her friends,"
and the wedding was celebrated with great state and magnificence
at Whitehall on the 27th of December in the same year. Mr. Cham-
berlayne, writing to Mr. Winwood,* from London, on the i8th Dec-
ember, 1604, refers to the great preparation that was then being made
at the Cockpit " to entertain the King," and also the plans that had
been proposed for " a masque and revels, against the marriage of
Sir Philip Herbert and Lady Susan Vere," and Sir Dudley Carleton,
writing to Mr. Winwood in January of the following year, speaks
about the ceremony, saying that all the honour that could be done
was done for " a great favourite," that " the Court was great," and that
all the persons upon that occasion put on their " best bravery," that
the Ambassador of Venice was present, and that there was a difficulty
with regard to his precedence which he himself much resented, and in
consequence of which he left before supper, and that the King gave
the bride away, and the Queen and the Prince were present at the
ceremony. He also goes on to describe the masque in the hall after-
wards, and says that in the dancing there was " no small loss that
lUght of chaines and Jewells." The presents, he says, given by various
noblemen, friends of Lord Pembroke, were valued at two thousand five
hundred pounds, but the King was also a great benefactor, for he gave
to the bride some land worth five hundred a year, and to the bride-
groom, property that wotdd bring him in an income of a thousand
a year. Sir Philip was an exceedingly handsome man, and universally
acknowledged to be one of the chief of the royal favourites. Clarendon
says that it was " the comeliness of his person," and his passion for
hunting and field sports which rendered him " the first which drew
the King's eyes towards him with affection," but he adds that " he
pretended to no other qualifications than to understand dogs and
horses very well." Rowland Whyte, a letter of whose, addressed to
Lord Shrewsbury is quoted in the stately volumes on the Wilton
•Win wood's Memoirs, vol. ii.
i68 Lady Anne.
House pictures, in describing Sir Philip, writes as follows, " The yonug
worthy Sir Philip, grows great in his Majesty's favour, and carries
it without envy, for he is very humble to the great Lords, and desirous
to do all men good, and hurtes no man." This is a particularly
favourable view of him, and does not tally with the opinion that other
of his contemporaries entertained. He was certainly successful in
out of door sports, because there were old lines frequently re-quoted
respecting him, as foUows : —
The Herberts, every Cockepitt day
Doe carry away
The gold and glory of the day.
He was, however, a hot-tempered man, and appears, according to
various records, to have had constant quarrels. We learn of a quarrel
at Croydon races with William Ramsay, one of the King's pages, ia
which he was horsewhipped and " nothing was spilt " says an eye
witness, " but the reputation of a gentleman," of a quarrel with
Lord Northampton at a game of tennis, and of a stiU more violent
dispute with Lord Howard-de-Walden on the way down to Scotland
with King James, but notwithstanding all these he remained the
King's particular favourite, and received a long series of honours at
the hands of his Sovereign. He was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber
in 1603, and in the same year a Knight of the Bath. A couple of years
after, he was made a Gentleman of the Bedchamber. For a while,
he sat in the House of Cormnons as the member for Glamorganshire,
but in May, 1605, he was created Earl of Montgomery and a year or
so after that, the King took possession of the Castle of Montgomery,
which belonged to Lord Herbert of Cherbury, and bestowed it upon
his favourite, while the actual owner had to redeem it from his kins-
man on payment of a considerable sum of money later on. The
Earl was frequently in receipt of gifts of land and emoluments from
the King, and spent money freely in aU directions. He was elevated
to the Order of the Garter in 1608, became High Steward of Oxford
University in 1615, Keeper of Westminster Palace and St. James's
Park in 1617, Lord Lieutenant of Kent in 1623-4, ^-^d in the next
year was sworn of the Privy Council. He was specially commended
by King James to his successor as worthy of his favourable notice.
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. 169
and in the first month of the new reign, was despatched to Pans as
one of the group of high ofiicials who were to conduct the Princess
Henrietta Maria to England. He bore the spurs at King Charles'
coronation in 1625, and in the following year succeeded his brother
as Lord Chamberlain of the Household. In 1630 occurred the death
of his brother WiUiam, and he then became the fourth Earl of Pem-
broke, and at the same time stepped into his brother's place as Lord
Warden of Starmaries, a position which he is said to have used with
great severity, oppressing the people of Cornwall and Devonshire,
according to Lord Clarendon, " with great fury and passion." He was
already High Steward of Oxford, but desired in addition to be
Chancellor of the University. There was, however, in the University,
a party led by Archbishop Laud, strongly antagonistic to him, and
Laud finally was elected to the ofiice of Chancellor by a small majority.
Lord Pembroke gave considerable attention to his great house at
Wilton, spent large sums upon it, and entertained the King there
on several occasions with great state, but his hot temper, and his
sullen and coarse manners, made him nimierous enemies at Court,
and he was always the object of a strong dishke on the part of the
Queen, who never overcame her original repugnance towards him. In
1634, there was a serious quarrel between him and Thomas May, the
King's private secretary, and afterwards the historiographer for the
Parhament ; occurring at a mtisque at Whitehall, which he had at-
tended in his ofiicial capacity as Lord Chamberlain. It would appear
that in the crowd the unfortunate secretary had been pushed against
this high official, who, instantly losing his temper, turned roimd and
struck May so harshly over the shoulders that his staff of office
broke in his hand. A violent scene ensued. The King and Queen
were both present, and it was actually Lord Pembroke's place to
keep order whereas he himself had been, so contemporary records
of the day teU us ; the aggressor. There was strong feeling excited.
The Lord Chamberlain was promptly reprimanded by King Charles,
expressed himself contrite, and the next day, had to apologise to
May in very abject terms, and ventured to offer to the secretary a
gift of fifty gold pieces as an expression of his regret.
In 1641 a still more serious outbreak took place against Lord
' Henry, second son of Thomas, Eail of Arundel and afterwards third earl.
170
Lady Anne.
Maltravers,® son of the Earl of Arundel, which occurred when both of
them were attending a Conunittee of the House of Lords. Tanner "
speaks of it in quaint terms. Lord Pembroke was again Lord
Chamberlain. " There was a controversy," says the MS., " between
ye Lord Chamberlayne and ye Lord Matravers, ye Lord Matravers
gave my Lord Chamberlajme ye Lye, wherupon he strucke Matravers
over ye head with his staffe. Then ye Lord Matravers took up a
Standish and threw at ye Lord Chamberlayne. This moved so great
a Stirre jrt ye Committee did rise, compla57nt was made to His Majesty,
and on Monday ye Upperhouse committed y™ both to ye Tower."
To this account Clarendon adds further particulars, and says that the
King, "taking advantage of this miscarriage," and having been long
incensed by the " passionate, indiscreet, and insolent carriage " of
the Earl, confined him a prisoner in the Tower for 8 days and then
sent to him " by a Gentleman Usher for his Staff, and, within two or
three days after, bestowed it upon the Earl of Essex." This was the
begiiming of an entire change of affairs. Lord Pembroke was bitterly
indignant at the opposition of the Queen and at the action of the King.
His sympathies had always been to a great extent with the Parliament ,
and now, urged by pique, by resentment, and by the flattery of the
Parliamentarians, added to what Lord Clarendon calls " a cowardly
fear that the Royahsts were a losing party," and the persuasion of
his personal friend Lord Saye,^^ he threw in his lot with those who
were opposing the Throne. For a while he tried to steer both sides
of the way, sent assurances of his loyalty to King Charles, and tried
to obtain the position of Lord Steward. Then he joined the Com-
mission of Public Safety, and a ParUamentary Ordinance appointed
him Governor of the Isle of Wight. Later on, in 1643, he became
one of the Commissioners sent by Parliament to the King at Oxford
with proposals for peace, and then definitely threw all his influence
on the Parliamentary side, spoke of those who had been his own
companions at Court in disgraceful terms, and so flattered the heads
of the Parliamentary party that they nominated him Lord Lieutenant
of Somerset, made him a Commissioner of the Admiralty, and even
10 Tanner MSS., 66, fol. no.
"■ William 8th Bacon and ist Viscount, eventually one of the Commissioners of the Public
Safety.
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. 171
seriously discussed the desirability of his being elevated to a Dukedom.
Meantime, he had won the position which he had coveted at Oxford.
Laud was a prisoner in the Tower, and had resigned the Chancellorship.
Lord Pembroke succeeded him, and gave such evidence of his
sjnnpathy with the Parliamentary party that he assured the University
on one occasion that its safety would be certain if the cavaliers
were dismissed and all delinquents yielded up to Parliament. He
only held the honour for a few years, being superseded later on
by the Marquis of Hertford, but in 1647 he was back again, for the
Parliament had issued a special ordinance for his restoration, and
Oxford suffered very severely under his influence, and from his bitter
tongue.12 By one author of the period he was described as being
" eloquent in swearing," and suitable to " preside over Bedlam,"
by another he was told that he would make " an excellent Chancellor "
if only " Oxford could have been turned into a kennel of hounds,"
and Butler in his bitter satire says that he
Ne'er with God or Man kept he word.
One day he'd swear he'd serve the King,
The next, 'twas quite another thing ;
Still changing with the Wind and Tide
That he might keep the stronger side.
^ Some of his expressions when for the second time he became Chancellor of the University
are worth quoting, but it must be stated that they are derived from a Royalist pamphlet, which
expressly confesses that they are a little exaggerated, "but not much," and therefore, in all
probability, we have very much the phrases that he made use of. " My visitors, I am glad
to see you this day. I hope this day will never end, tor I am your Chancellor. Some say
that I am not your Chancellor, but damn me ! they lie, for my brother was so before me, and
none but rascals would rob me of my birthright. They think the Marquis of Hertford is
Chancellor of Oxford, because, forsooth, the University chose him. S'death, I sit here by
ordinance of Parliament, and judge ye, gentlemen, whether he or I look like a Chancellor.
I will prove he is a party, for himself he is a scholar, he has Greek and Latin, and all the world
knows I can scarce read or write. Damn me ! this writing and reading hath caused all this
blood . . . . I thank God, and I thank you, I thank God I am come at last, and I thank
you for giving me a gilded Bible, you could not give me a better book, danm me, I think so.
I love the Bible, though I seldom use it, I say I love it, and a man's affection is the best member
about him. I can love it, though I cannot read it, as you, Dr. Wilkinson, love preaching,
though you never preach . ... Gentlemen, love one another, for there are twenty
thousand do hate you, they say you are all either dunces, knaves, or madmen, s'death, they
will say so of me if they durst, but do you serve God and love your Chancellor, you have all
the good places the University can yield I love you all, damn me ! I do. I command
you, Registrar, to write it down, that I love them all."
It is said that on several of the College doors there was painted up, in red, as though to
announce a visitation of the Plague " Lord have mercy upon us for we are visited."
172 Lady Anne.
His Hawks and Hounds " were all his Care,
For them he made his daily Prayer,
And scarce would lose a hunting Season,
E'en for the sake of darling Treason.
This was the man whom Lady Anne selected as her second husband !
His first wife had borne him seven sons and three daughters, of
whom two sons and a daughter had died in infancy. She died on the
1st of February, 1628/9, ^^^ his second marriage took place on the
1st of June, 1630. By Lady Anne he had two children prematurely
bom and both of them died in infancy. Lady Susan had died of
smallpox, as Lady Anne records in her diary. " His first wife," says
she, " dyed of the smallpox on the Court att Whitehall a yeare and
fower monthes before I was marryed to him. My youngest Daughter
was present at this my second marriage. But not my eldest."
Between 1629 and 1635 Vandyck painted the great picture which
occupies the whole of one wall of the Double-Cube Room at Wilton
House, and which contains the best portrait of Lady Anne at this
period of her life. It is a magnificent group, with ten life-sized figures.
The earl and his second wife are in the centre, on their left stands
Anna Sophia, elder daughter of the Earl by his first wife, and her
husband Robert, Earl of Carnarvon. On the right are Lord Pembroke's
five sons by his first wife, Charles, Lord Herbert ; Philip, William,
James and John. Standing on the steps in the foreground is Lady
Mary, daughter of George, Duke of Buckingham, who became the
wife of Charles Herbert, and who, after his decease, married as
her second husband the first Duke of Richmond, and then, as her
third, Thonias Howard, brother to Charles, Earl of Carlisle. In the
clouds above are represented the three children who died in infancy,
James, Henry and Katherine.
It was to the astonishment of all her friends that this marriage had
taken place, and many were the prophecies respecting it. Lady Anne,
however, was not in the habit of taking other people's advice. She
had decided that it was the right thing for her to marry Lord Pembroke
that he would be a great champion for her, and that he would protect
her daughter, and having entered into the contract with full deter-
mination, she with equal decision carried out for as long as she possibly
" He always kept 24 couples at WUton.
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. 173
could, her side of the bargain. Two persons more antithetical in
habits could hardly have been found, and only for four years and six
months were they able to live together. There were many ready to
make disagreements between them. She says, " Nor did there want
divers Malitious ilUwillers to Blow and foment the Coales of discontent
betwixt us." There was not, it is true, the same source of difficulty
between her and Lord Pembroke as had existed between her previous
husband and herself, for the active prosecution of her claims to the
estates could no longer be carried on, the King had made his award,
and she had to abide by it : but, determined to keep her own suit in
fuU force, she did make, on two separate occasions, definite legal
claims for the estates in 1632, and in 1637, ^-^d these claims were
made, not only by her, but by her in conjunction with Lord Pembroke ;
and were signed and sealed by him as well as by her. It is quite
likely that the necessity of the law of that day for making these
legal claims was one of the reasons why she had entered into this
fresh matrimonial contract. After 1637 there was no opportunity
for a further claim, " ffor then," says she, " the Civill warres broke
out in that extremitie in the Northerne parts. That no more Claymes
could be made there, dureing my Unckle of Cumberland and his Sonne's
lifetime." A fresh cause of controversy, however, had arisen. Lord
Pembroke wished to make an engagement between her younger
daughter. Lady Isabella Sackville, and one of his younger sons, and
he wished her to settle upon his son the five thousand pounds
which she possessed, part of her portion out of her land in Craven.
This, she says, was a matter of long contention between them. She
would not give in, and was determined that her daughter should
herself select, subject to her consent, her own husband, and that
there should be no engagement between her and any of Lord Pembroke's
children. She refers, in a striking and oft-quoted passage, to her
troubles with both her hitsbands, saying that, in both their lifetimes,
" the marble pillars of KnoUe in Kentt and Wilton in Wiltshire, were
to me oftentimes but the gay Harbours of Anguish, Insomuch as a
Wiseman, that knew the inside of my fortune \har cousin, Francis,
Earl of Bedford] would often say that I lived in those my Lordes
great familyes as the river of Rhone or Rhodanus runnes thorow the
Lake of Geneva, without mingleinge anie part of its streames with
174 Lady Anne.
that Lake, ffor I gave myselfe wholly to Retyredness, as much as I
coi:ld, in both those great families, and made good Bookes and verteou?
thoughts my Companions, which have never deserved affliction, nor
bee daunted when it unjustly happeneth. And by a happie genious
I overcame all those Troubles, the Prayers of my Blessed Mother
helping me herein."
With reference to this particular entry, it may be of interest to
draw attention to the phrase '' marble pillars." Lady Anne was always
exact in her statements, and her phraseology can be accepted as
representing actual objects. It was not difficult to identify the marble
pillars of Knole, but the contrary is the case at Wilton, where in
the house there is but little marble. On the ground floor, in a
retired position, however, there is a room which appears to have been
Lady Anne's sitting-room, and across the centre of it there is a series
of small marble columns against which she had probably leaned on
many occasions. These seem to be the only marble columns in the
house.
In all probability, one of her principal troubles was that concerned
with her daughter Isabella, and it would not appear that she had any
particular objection to Lord Pembroke's sons, for, on the whole,
she was on good terms with her stepchildren. Most of them were
already grown up and married when she arrived at Wilton, and she
frequently menaons one of them. Lord Pembroke's eldest daughter,
Lady Carnarvon, as a person who had great influence with her Lord,
and was helpful in restraining him in his wilder moods. Lady Isabella
was, however, quite a girl at the time, and it is clear that her mother
was determined that her affections should not be forced, and that no
engagement should take place in tender years. It was likely that
she would be a great co-heiress with her sister at some future time,
and, at all events, she should have the right of exercising her own wiU
when the time came for doing so.
This, however, was by no means the only cause of friction, for there
were many scandals both at Wilton and in London, respecting Lord
Pembroke. As a matter of fact, one of them, which is specifically
mentioned in a letter which appears in the Domestic series of State
Papers, cannot have been altogether accurately described, because
the particular lady with whom Lord Pembroke is said to have been
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. 175
living, was his niece, and his ward, and therefore there was a reason
for her residence at Wilton, and a still further reason for Lord Pembroke
exercising what influence he possessed over her, and preventing her
from making an unfortunate marriage. That she herself actually lived
with her guardian, there is no proof, but there are plenty of stories of
similar conduct, and some of them were certainly founded in fact.
Many of the special difficulties, however, arose from Lord Pem-
broke's violence of temper, which was at times so serious and so out-
rageous that he was regarded as mad, and in fact, in one letter, his
behaviour is spoken of as that of a lunatic.^* He does not appear
to have had the slightest control of his language. It was habitually
violent, blasphemous, and offensive, and his libertinism was known,
and universally accepted. Almost his sole interest was in sport,
horses and dogs, but withal, he was much attached to his family seat,
Wilton, and spent' considerable sums of money upon the house.
He rebuilt the main front on an elaborate scale in 1633, and then in
1647 rebuilt the south side of the house which had been burned down,
but even on that occasion was not able to control his feelings, and
bitter quarrels ensued between him and Inigo Jones, who was his
architect, and also between him and Webb, who was a connection of
Inigo Jones, and was responsible for the south elevation. He collected
many fine pictures and some important books which he added to the
treasures of the house. He employed the great artists of the day to
decorate its ceilings, and above aU, he was a notable patron to Vandyck,
so that some of the finest works Vandyck ever painted are the portraits
he commissioned, and which still remain in the Cube and Double Cube
rooms and the Picture Gallery of Wilton House. There is a striking
resemblance between him and men of the Renaissance, so strange
W£is the, mingling of fine artistic tastes ^^ with unbridled immorality
and great violence of temper. More and more. Lady Anne had to
retire from her husband, and shut herself up, as she said, with her books
and her meditations, cherishing memories of her revered mother,
and interesting herself in the affairs of her children. She speaks
with great joy of the birth of her grandchildren, and many years after-
" His brother's widow was in a mad-house, and he enjoyed her income added to his own.
" Geo. Sedgwick, who was for a while liis secretary, says that his income was £18,000 a year,
but that he left debts amounting to £55,000, all of which were cleared off by his executors within
four years.
176 Lady Anne.
wards, in writing her record, she puts down " I must not forgett God's
goodness and mercie to me in sending my eldest Daughter the Countess
of Thanet [she was then Lady Tufton, as Lord Thanet did not die
till the next year] her first-born Childe being a Sonne whereof she was
delivered in Bollbroke House, in Sussex, the seventh of August, 1631.
And after thatt had manie more Children, both sonnes and Daughters,
to my great Comfort, So as now shee hath manie children aHve."
Another of her satisfactions appears to have consisted in her friend-
sliip with George Herbert the poet, who, soon after she had married
Lord Pembroke, came to reside at Bemerton, quite close to her new
home. Only one letter, addressed by George Herbert to Lady Anne,
has been preserved, but it would almost appear, from the wording
of this, in which he alludes in graceful fashion to her mother — a sure
path to her interest, — that he felt indebted to her for some influence
she may have brought to bear upon her husband, and which resulted
in his receiving the living. He writes to her when she was " at
Court " in the following words.
Madam,
What a trouble hath your goodness brought on you by admitting our poor
services. Now they creep in a vessel of Metheglin, and still they wUl be pre-
senting or wishing to see, if at length they may find out something not unworthy
of those hands at which they aim. In the meantime, a priest's blessing, though
it be none of the Court style, yet doubtless, Madam, can do you no harm, where-
fore the Lord make good the blessing of your Mother upon you, and cause all
her wishes, diligences, prayers and tears to bud, blow and bear fruit in your
soul, to His glory, your own good, and the great joy of, Madam,
Your most faithful servant in Christ Jesus,
(Signed) George Herbert.
P.S. — Madam, your poor colony of servants present their humble duties.
December loth, 1631, Bemerton.
We have little doubt that Lady Anne entertained, when she went
to Wilton, the desire to have frequent communication with her poet
neighbour, but alas ! George Herbert resided Httle more than a year
at Bemerton before he died of consumption at the age of forty.
It was only, as we have said, for less than five years that Lord and
Lady Pembroke were able to live together. We do not know the actual
reason for their separation, whether it was owing to his immoral
conduct, to her discovery of certain new infidelities, already probably
Lady Anne's Secoiid Makeiage. 177
well known to his neighbours, or whether it was by reason of a special
violence of temper, to which she refers in one place as " lunatic
behaviour," but in 1634, tliey agreed to part, and quietly and soberly
she alludes to the parting, in the diary which she wrote in later years.
She says " The eighteenth of December one thousand sixe hundred
and thirtie fower, By reason of some discontent, I went from I-iveing
at the Court at Whitehall, to live at Baynard's Castle in London,
where, and at the two houses of Wilton and Ramsburie I continwed
for the most part (during the time of his life after) in which Howses of
his lived then his sister in Law Marie Talbot, Countess Dowager of Pem-
brook, and most of his children. For that widdowe Countess outlived
him about a Month." It would appear that Lord Pembroke
continued to reside in his rooms in Whitehall, keeping them as his
principal residence, or in bis rooms in the Cockpit, and that Lady
Pembroke determined that she would not continue in either place
with him. It would also seem, from the wording of her diary, that
already a division of opinion had taken place between him and his own
children, and that they were residing with the Dowager Countess,
while he was living his wild life in London. There can hardly have
been an open rupture between them at that time, because, early in
the following year. Lord Pembroke himself came to see her, and
settled aU the terms of her jointure.
She had a firm friend in her cousin Francis, Earl of Bedford, who
was determined that her rights and those of her two daughters should
be safeguarded, and that, whether husband and wife lived together
or not, her means, and the portion of her children, were to be settled
in legal and definite terms, and eventually, it would appear, owing
to his interposition, this arragement was made. " On the 5th of
June," she says " one thowsand sixe hundred thirtie-five, Did my
sayd Lord the Earle of Pembrooke in Ba5n.iard's Castle make over to
mee My Jointure of those Landes of his in the Isle of Sheppey in
Kentt, Which hee hadd formerlie made in Jointure to his first wife,
the Ladie Suzan Vere, Countess of Montgomery, and at the time of
makeing that Jointure, Hee released his Right to all my Landes in
Westmoreland, and five thowsand poundes out of my Landes in Craven,
for a part of my youngest Daughter's portion (if ever those Landes
should fall to mee) in his Lifetime, as afterwards they did. And this
178 Lady Anne.
Agreement," she adds, " was cheifely made betwene us by my worthy
Cozen German, ffrancis, Earle of Bedford." Lord Bedford must have
worked hard to have obtamed what would appear to be such excellent
terms for his cousin, and one wonders why Lord Pembroke accepted
them. The claim which he withdrew to her lands was not a small
one, although, of course, the possibility of her succession was somewhat
remote, but, whatever might be the reason, whether he was gnilty of so
serious an offence that he desired to propitiate his wife, or to purchase
her forgiveness, or for what reason, we cannot teU, but the declarations
were made, and no more difficiilty on that score ensued between
them. Possibly on that occasion, or perhaps on a later one, there
must have been a definite and open rupture of an even more serious
character, because an important letter, which is preserved amongst
the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, and which Lady Anne
addresses to Lord Bedford, does actually state that he had turned
her out of the house. She writes to her cousin from Ramsbury and
she says ^® : —
Yesterday, by Mr. Marsh, I received your Lordship's letter, by which I
perceived how much you were troubled at the report of my being sick, for which
I humbly thank your Lordship. I was so ill as I did make full account to die,
but now I thank God, I am something better, and now, my Lord, give me
leave to desire that favour from your Lordship, as to speak earnestly to my
Lord for my coming up to the Town this term, either to Baynard's Castle or
the Cockpit, and I protest I will be ready to return back hither again whenso-
ever my Lord appoints it. I have to this purpose written now to my Lord,
and sent it enclosed in a letter of mine to my Lady of Carnarvon, as desiring
her to deliver it to her Father, which I know she wUl do, with all the advantage
she can to further this business, and if your Lordship will join with her in it,
you shall afiord a charitable and most acceptable favour to your Lordship's
cousin and humble friend to command,
14 January, 1638. Anne Pembroke.
To this letter there is an important postscript ; —
If my Lord should deny my coming, then I desire your Lordship I may
understand it as soon as may be, that so I may order my poor business as well
as I can, without my own coming to the Town, for I dare not venture to come up
without his leave, lest he should take that occasion to turn me out of this house,
*° Rendered into modern spelling.
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. 179
as he did out of Whitehall, and then I shall not know where to put my head.
I desire not to stay in the town above ten days or a fortnight at the most.
From this it is quite evident that on the occasion of this open
rupture, whether it was in 1635 or at the time when the letter was
written, Lord Pembroke had absolutely refused, in one of his fits of
temper, to permit his wife to come up again to town, and ordered
her down to his country house, and told her that there she was to
remain. There was some strong reason for her wishing to come up
to London in 1638, probably in connection with the agreement she
had made in the previous September respecting her Northern estates,
and which constituted the final claim she was able to make, but
she could not expose herself again to any insulting remarks from her
husband, and with all her desire to come up to London, and to consult
her legal advisers, was yet really afraid to do so, for fear that he
might turn her out from wherever she went to reside for the night.
It was in consequence of this that she appealed to Lord Bedford to
interview her husband, and although we do not know the result of
his interposition, yet we should imagine, from the success which she
usually obtained when she had set her mind upon any course of action,
that she probably did come up to London upon that occasion, and
carried out the business she desired to transact.
A couple of years after the date of this letter, another change
occurred with regard to her legal trouble in the death of the old Earl
of Cumberland. " The one and twentieth of Januarie," she sa57s
" one thowsand sixe hundred and fortie one, Dyed my Unckle Francis,
Earle of Cumberland, when hee was nere fowerscore and two yeares
ould, in Skipton Castle in Craven (I lying then in Ramsburie in Wilt-
shire) and his onelie Childe Henerie Lord Clifford, who succeeded him
in the Earledom, lived but two yeares tenne Monthes and some twenty
dayes after him."
Her chances, by this death, of succeeding to the Northern estates,
had become less remote than they had been hitherto, because aU the
children of the fifth Earl of Cumberland by his marriage with Lady
Frances Cecil had died, save only one daughter Elizabeth, and
the estates could only pass to heirs male. His wife was still living,
however, and as long as she lived there was the chance of his having
an increase in his family, and he himself was, be it remembered, only a
i8o Lady Anne.
year or two younger than his cousin Lady Anne, so that, even in the
event of his wife's decease, he might marry again, and have a family,
but the probabilities were against either of these results, and the chance
of Lady Anne's succession more definite. It was actually a question
as to which of the two cousins would outlive the other, and Lady Anne
won in the contest, because Lord Clifford died on the nth of December,
1643, leaving behind him his one daughter only, who had married
Richard Boyle, second Earl of Cork, and first Earl of Burlington, and
who, in the following year, was created Baron Clifford of Lanesborough,
while Lady Cumberland outlived her husband a very short time, as
she died on the 14th of February, 1644, and so, releasing any
jointure she might have possessed, left the whole way clear for the
sviccession of Lady Anne.
Of her uncle Lady Anne writes that " he was an honourable gentle-
man, and of a good, noble, sweet and courteoijs nature, but towards
the last few years of his life was overruled in all his actions by his son."
In May of the same year, an even greater trouble befell her, because
she lost her cousin, the Earl of Bedford, who had always been her
protector and supporter. " He died," she writes, " at his Howse
called Bedford Howse in the Strand, to my greife and sorrowe
For hee was a most worthJe man." Then ensued the serious difficulties
of the Civil War, and perchance these brought the husband and wife
together again, at all events for a short time, because, she says " when
the Civill warres began to grow hotter and hotter in England,
my sayd Lord and I came together [and the word " together " should
be marked] from Wilton the 12th of October, 1642, with my younger
Daughter, then the Ladie Issabellas Sackville, and the next dale wee
came to London, where my sayd Lord went to lye at his Lodgeings
in the Cockpitt, in Saint James his parck, over against Whitehall,
to be nere the Parliament, Butt I and my Daughter went to lye in
Baynard's Castle, which was then a Howse full of Riches, and was
tl;ie more secure by my Lyeing there, where then I continwed to lye
in my owne Chamber, without removeinge sixe yeares and njme
monthes, which was the longest time that ever I continwed to lye in
one Howse in aU my Life (The Civill warres being then verie hott in
England) So that I was well safe, that was then, as it were, a place of
Refuge for me to hide myself e in, till those troubles were overpassed."
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. i8i
It is interesting to surmise concerning the reason that brought Lord and*
Lady Pembroke together, and demanded their going up to town,
when he had, as we have already seen, thrown all his influence against
the King and on the side of the Parliament. He had been vacillating
backwards and forwards for some time, keeping faith with neither
party, speaking of the ParUamentarians to the King as a " pack of
knaves and villians," and to them, in opprobrious language con-
cerning his Sovereign. No man respected him, but at length, obliged
to commit himself in definite fashion to one side or the other, in this
very year to which we are now referring, he had been one of the?
deputation sent down to Royston to his Sovereign, and it is said had
no embarrassment and no awkwardness in reading to the King the
insolent document which he, the late Lord Chamberlain, bore to
him. It was on this occasion, however, that King Charles is said to
have given utterance to one of his few recorded fiery sentences.
Pressed by the renegade to abandon the control of the mildtiia to
Parliament, he exclaimed, " No, by God, not for an hour ! You haves
asked that of me, in this, which was never asked of a King before, aaid?
with which I would not even trust my wife or children." It has been
suggested, and with some probability, that it was purely a matter of-
ways and means which led Lord Pembroke on this occasion to make
a sort of temporary agreement with his wife, and that her allusion to
the fact that Baynard's Castle was a house full of riches, and that the
property was secured by her Uving in it, and by her continuing to^
reside in what she calls a place of refuge ; marks the fact that many of
the more valuable possessions of Lord Pembroke were at that time
at Baynard's Castle, and that he had suggested to her that she should
remain there in residence, and in charge of these treasures, in case
that at any moment he might have to go far away from London with
the Parliamentarian forces. We would have liked to have imagined
that it constituted a certain renewal of the attachment of the husband
and wife to one another, but it was probably not so, and the friendship
was patched up with the idea that she should protect his belongings ,
and settle down quietly in London during this troublous time. She
did so, and makes very slight reference in any of her records to the
political troubles, to which she was really indifferent, being far more
interested in the fact that her daughter went over to Fratoce with her
i82 Lady Anne.
husband and children, and stayed away some seven or eight months,
and then returned to their house in Aldersgate Street, where she gave
birth to her seventh child, Thomas Tufton. She had been god-
mother to two of the children, Margaret, the eldest daughter, and John,
the second son, and was always particularly attached to her godson,
and took special interest in him.
While the Thanets were abroad, the greatest event that could
possibly happen to alter the whole future of Lady Anne's life
occurred, in the unexpected decease of her cousin the last Earl of
Cumberland, and so the estates were released to her. As already
mentioned in the previous chapter, she does not speak in very kind
terms of this cousin, but she does refer in more agreeable fashion to
his wife, who died in the sajne house and only a few months after
her husband. " She," Lady Anne says, " was a lady of very noble
and just mind, very bountiful to her power, and kind and loving to
her friends and kindred." Of the husband, she says but little, and
that little always in terms of strong feeling against the injustice
which for years kept her out of her estate.
We shall deal in a separate chapter with her proceedings after
the decejise of her cousin, but there are two or three events that
should be chronicled here, even though one of them occurred later
than certain happenings to which we shall refer presently. Lady Anne
records the decease on May i6, 1643, of Mary, Countess of Dorset,
the wife of her husband's successor at Knole. She speaks of her as
" a virtuous and good woman," and as her " deare and good friend."
She cannot resist the opportunity, however, of again referring to
Lord Dorset her brother-in-law, and saying that he was ever her
" bitter enemie and persecutor." Then, after allusion to the difficulty
which had occurred between Lord Pembroke and Lady Isabella, she
mentions with great satisfaction that on the 5th of' July, 1647, her
younger daughter was married to James Compton, Earl of Northampton,
in the church at Clerkenwell, in which church, says she, " my Mother
and I had been parrishioners for some seven yeares together in my
Childehood. ' ' She was not, however, able to be present at the marriage,
" for manie reasons," as she was not in good health at that moment.
Then, in 1649, she took her last leave of Lord Pembroke, having
arrived at a determination that she did not desire to see him any more.
Lady Anne's Second Marriage. 183
It was on a Sunday, and it was the last time that they ever " saw one
another," and, after parting with him at the Cockpit, she drove to
her daughter Lady Northampton's house at Islington, " which was
the first time," she says " that I was ever in anie of her Lord's Howses,
and methinkes," she goes on to say, " that my Destiny is remarkable.
That shee should be settled at Islington so nere Clerkenwell, where
my Mother and I lived long in my Childehood, And that her Lord's
Cheife Howse of Ashbie should be so neare Lillford in Northampton-
shire, where both my Mother and my selfe in our younger yeares had
our Breedeing, As also that my elder Daughter of Thanett should
bee settled at Hothefield in Kent, not farr from Sutton Where my
Blessed Mother and I lived together a good while, whilst I was a
Maide. So as those Countryes where my Mother lived as a Stranger
and PilgTime and in some Discontentes are now the settled Aboades
and Habitations of both their Grandechildren."
The only other event which need be recorded in this chapter is that
of the death of Lord Pembroke. He died on January 23, 1650, in
his lodgings in the Cockpit, Whitehall, from what is called " a
pestilential fever," at the age, so says his wife, of sixty-five years,
three months, and thirteen days. Her comments upon him describe
him as a man of very quick apprehension, sharp understanding, and of
a " desceming spirit," but she was careful to add that he was " very
crafty withal," and " extremely choleric by nature," and that he was
" no scholar at all to speak of," as he spent a very short time at the
University. It was apparently a cause of some thankfulness to her
that this strange and troublous life was ended at last. His death
occurred upon a Wednesday, and his body was buried in Salisbury
Cathedral on the 9th of February following, l3^g by his brother, his
father and his mother in that place. His elder brother's widow,
Marig Talbot, to whom we have made allusion a little further back,
and who was the elder daughter and heir to Gilbert Talbot, Earl of
Shrewsbury, died a month after her brother-in-law, and she also was
buried in Salisbury Cathedral. There is httle need to refer in this
place to the scurrilous Last Will and Testament which was issued
by the Royalist pamphleteers immediately after the decease of Lord
Pembroke, and which violently assailed his memory in scathing terms.
He died a traitor to his King, amidst almost imiversal execration on
1% Lady Anne.
both sides, hated by those amongst whom- he lived in the earlier part
of his Kfe, and who had been exposed to the violence of bis
temper; aaid aknost equally disliked by the party he had joined
in later days, and to which he had been no credit. He will be weD
remembered, because he was one of the " incomparable pair of
brothers," and for his devotion to art and to rebuilding and improving
his house at Wilton, but his social and political career were eminently
unsatisfactory.
We do not Icnow who wrote to Lady Anne to tell her of the death
of her husband, but there is in existence a letter from Lord Pembroke's
chaplain, Caldecott, which was addressed to her, and was evidently
in response to a letter from her sent to him. It is dated the 23rd of
February, 1649-50, and in it, he says, that he begs to
acCfuaint your Honor that I am newly come hither from the last office I could
do my Lord deceased, his interment, where I met your Honor's letter, most
precious to his memory, which I do keep as a significant favour from your
Honor, nor could I possibly return my sense sufficiently, but if ever I enjoy
the happiness to kiss your Honor's hand, it wiU be to testify the great rejoicing
I have in being your Honor's most humble and faithful servant,
R. Caldecott,
From the Cockpit Whitehall.
An interesting holograph letter from Lady Anne — bi the possessionr
of the Honourable Maud Russell — refers to this same Mr. Caldecott,
and perhaps alludes to his appointment as her chaplain.
Good Cousin,
I received a kind letter from you, and with it a dainty box of dried sweet-
meats, for which I return you many thanks, as I have cause for the like kind-
nesses to do many times before. For the lease, your son, Mr. Caldecott,^' doth
desire from me, I do move it shall be done to his own mind, out of band, andi
so I have told him, and given order to have it drawn, and so, committing you
to the protection of the Almighty, I rest.
Your assured friend and cousin,
Anne Pembroke.
Whitehall, 20th of November. [No year given] .
The only other thing we need refer to in connection with the death
" We are curious to know whether by any chance the person to whom this letter was
addressed was Matthew Caldecott her late lord's " great favourite " and perhaps Lord Dorset's
cousin, arid' heflce thi manner m which it is written.
Lady Anne's SMgond Marriage. 185
of Lord Pembroke is the issue of a scurrilous pamphlet concerning
him which came out almost immediately. It was called " The Life
and Death of Philip Herbert, the late infamous Knight of Berkshire,
once Earl of Pembroke, likewise a Discourse with Charon on his
Voyage to HeU, Printed in the First year of Phil Harbert's Infernal
Captivity, and (I hope) the last of our State Tyranny." The allusion
to his representing Berkshire is of course to the fact that in April
before he died, ignoring his high rank, he had presented himself as a
candidate for the Lower House and member for Berkshire in the
Rump Parliament, and this " Ascent downwards," as the Royalists
termed it, was, by most of them, regarded as the very lowest depth
to which he ever sank. In the pamphlet> which points to considerable
liberty of the press taken at that moment, Charon was represented
as instructing Cerberus concerniing his new visitor in these words^
" Hee's come from' England. His name was Pembroke, one of our
chief champions. For damning, stinking. Swearing, and eursingj
all the inhabitants of HeU can hardly equal him."
Then it goes on to say :-^
If all our Regicides were with him there.
Thrice happy, happy then this Ehgfand were .
The ribald pamphlet ends thus : —
Here lies the mirror of our age for treason,
Who in hife life was void of sense and reason.
The Commons' fool, a knave in everything,
A traitor to his master. Lord and King,
A man whose virtues were to lie and swear,
God damn him ! was his constant daily prayer.
i86
CHAPTER XI.
LADY ANNE SUCCEEEDS TO HER ESTATES.
A PUZZLING circumstance in connection with the life of Lady
Anne Clifford occurs at this stage of the proceedings. It is not
at aU clear what happened during the interval between the
death of Henry, the last Earl of Cumberland, which occurred in 1644,
and the time, five years afterwards, when she made her first journey
down to the north. It is at first not easy to understand why so long
a space of time should have elapsed before she went down to take
possession of the property. She had at length gained the estates.
It had been a long and an arduous fight, but now ever5rthing had
fallen quietly into her own hands, since her cousin had died without
heirs male. She must have felt conscious of success, and it would
only have been natural had she left for Appleby and Skipton im-
mediately. There were evidently important reasons which prevented
her from doing so, although we can believe that her desire would
have been to go down to the north at once. It is probable that it was
not safe to leave London at this juncture. It was also likely to have
been the case that Lady Isabella, her younger daughter, who was at
that time twenty-one, had many suitors. She and her sister Margaret
were now co-heiresses to a great fortune, ajid therefore she was a person
of consequence. Lady Anne may have been anxious to guide her
daughter's thoughts into the right channel, and to see that she selected
a suitable person for her husband, and that may have taken some time.
Lord Pembroke may have refused at first to allow her to go down
to the north, or he may have put difiiculties in the way of her going,
and have insisted upon her remsiining at Baynard's Castle to look
after his property. Her own health may not have been particularly
good, and it is certain that she must have had a number of legal
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 187
arrangements to make, that perhaps she felt could be better entered
into, on the spot, in London, than if she was absent from town, and
unable to constilt with her legal advisers. Be the reason what it may,
it is clear that not until 1649, ^^^ ^^ ^^e summer of that year, did
she set out from London to go down to her northern estates. She
never returned to town again, and the fact that she had no intention
of so doing, may have been another of her reasons for delaying her
departure. She probably had all kinds of plans to make before she
left London, for she had made up her mind that the rest of her life
was to be devoted to the care of her tenants and her estates, and she
had no intention of again taking part in either Court or Social life in
London. Lord Pembroke's controversy with his wife, concerning
Lady Isabella's marriage, probably extended over a considerable
time, perhaps even for some years. It is quite likely that he refused
to give up the idea of wedding her to one of his children, that he
persecuted and worried both mother and daughter persistently, and
that they both of them were so in fear of his mad and violent temper
that they dared not leave London as long as he had set his mind upon
this match, and it was only when her daughter was safely married to
the Earl of Northampton that Lady Anne felt able to take into close
consideration the question of her own complete separation from her
husband, and from society, both at the Court and elsewhere. Certain
it is, she came to some definite arrangement with him that they should
not meet again, before she went to the north, and after the final
parting, they did not see one another any more, and she w£is at Appleby
when the news reached her of his decease.
The true explanation of the whole matter is probably a political
one, for the five years were amongst the most disastrous in English
history. It must not be forgotten that at the time when Henry,
Lord Ctimberland, died the first battle of Newbury had taken place,
and that in the following year there was the second battle of Newbury,
the battle of Marston Moor, and the failure of the serious negotiations
at Uxbridge. Following that, in '45, came the battle of Naseby,
and it is therefore probable that Lady Anne felt it would be politic
to lead as quiet and retired a life as possible in London, while all these
troubles were taking place. She must herself have been well known
as sympathising with the Royedist party. She had been constantly
lis Lady Anne.
at Court, and intimately known, not only to James I, and hifr Queenj
feut to his successor on the throne, and aU her personal and family
instincts would have led her to throw in any weight of interest she
possessed, on the Royalist side. Her husband, however, had espoused
the cause of the Parliamentarians, and as he had turned toward the
winning side, it would doubtless be advisable for her to keep her
sympathies to herself, and to take shelter, so far as was desirable,
behind the position which Lord Pembroke had adopted. In fact,
her only chance of escaping the general debicle was to do so. If ah©
bad gone away to her northern estates, she would have had to stand
by her own opinions, and they were not the ones which at that time
were popular. She would have been away from any of the protection
which her husband's Parliamentarian S57mpathies afforded her while
she was in London, and it is therefore probable that it was not all
from want of desire to visit her northern estates, to which she had
succeeded, that she remained in London, but because self-preservation
was a natural instinct, and while this terrible contest was going on
between the Parliamentary forces and those of the King, ending in
his capture, trial and death, and in the flight of Charles II., it was
desirable that she should remain at Baynard's Castle, watching over
such possessions as were in the house, and keeping herself as Httle
as; might be in the public eye. It must have been a period of great
trial for her, because, although she refers very little to political events,
yet the few remarks she does make about the coronation of Charles II.
and other Court matters, show in which direction lay her ssonpathies.
She entirely ignores the Commonwealth and the Protectorate, making
no allusion to Cromwell or to any of his people, with the single exception
of the reference to which we shall allude shortly, to General Harrison.
Her desire to have taken possession of her property and to see her
tenantry must have been keen, but she had to resist the temptation
to go north, because it was unsafe for her to do so, and it is not ^flficult
to understand what a period of anxiety these five years must have
been, and how eager to journey to Skipton she was, as soon as it was
possible for her to do so.
In any case it would have been impossible for her to have gone
at an earlier date to Skipton, however strong her desire might have
been to have visited the place where she was born, because the las-t
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 189
Earl of Cumberland had endeavoured to hold it in favour of the King,
and Skipton had sustained a siege, or at least a blockade, for three
years. Inasmuch as it was commanded by two adjoining heights,
it would not have been tenable if attacked, as Whitaker says it was,
" by battering cannon," and the siege, although conducted by three
such able officers as Lambert, Poyntz, and Rossiter, could not have
been of a serious character, excepting, perhaps, for two or three brisk
assaults. Few records remain to describe this blockfide, but the
siege is supposed to have commenced in December, 1642, although
in June of that year, we hear that Sir Thomas Fairfax had come
against it. Sir John MaUory of Studley, whose portrait is still to be
seen in the possession of Lord Ripon, was the Governor, who defended
it. The castle appears to have held out until December 22nd, 1645,
when it was surrendered upon articles. During the siege, the King
granted a warrant to Sir John Mallory empowering him to coUect
some of the rents that had been due to the late Earl of Cumberland,
and to apply them to the maintenance of the garrison, and if this
was done, it would have probably unsettled the tenants, because
very likely the officers who executed the King's warrant were harsh
in their demands. Practically, the only information we have con-
cerning this period at Skipton is derived from the entries in the registers
of the deaths and burials of soldiers and officers. There appear to be
no actual records now in existence relative to the siege itself.
Another rather curious difficulty besets us in connection with this
journey. There are in existence aL Appleby Castle several interesting
and important letters, written by Lady Anne from that place, and
many of them are dated in the early months of 1649, whereas she
distinctly states in her diary that she left London on the iith of July
in that very year for Skipton, that it was the first time that she went
down to Skipton on going into her inheritance, that in the August
of the same year she came on to Appleby, and that it was the first
time she had been there since 1607. It is therefore certain that these
letters, dated January and February, 1649, do not relate to the year
to which one would naturally expect them to belong, but must be
considered to belong to January and February, as we should term it,
1650, and their date should read January, 1649-50.^
Fortunately we are aware of what Lady Anne was doing during
igo
Lady Anne.
part of this time, because some letters and papers which she addressed
to her cousin, Sir John Lowther, are still in existence.^ They are
but few in number, but they are all dated at about this time, and
they show us not only the extreme care which Sir John Lowther
exercised on behalf of his cousin's estates while she was detained
in London, but also the great affection which she felt for him, and
her gratitude for him for all his care. Besides all this they set
forth in quite striking language an illustration of her own deter-
mined character. The documents start with some instructions to
her tenants in Westmoreland dated April 4th, 1644, in which she
desires those whom she calls "my good and loving tenants" not
to pay any rents or fines that have become due to her since the
death of the last Earl of Cumberland to anyone, but to retain
these rents or fines in their own hands until they should receive
special instructions from her under her own hand. These instructions
she says she intends to give as soon as the " troublesome times will
permit," and then goes on to state that if they carry out her instruc-
tions it will increase her " love and good meaning more and more to
aU " of them, and concludes the statement by the following phrase
with reference to the tenants " to whom I intend it, God's sparing life,
to be a good landlady to you all, and so committing you all to the
protection of God Almighty, I rest. Your landlady that wishes
happiness and blessing to the county of Westmoreland." As is usual
with her letters there is an important postscript, and in this instance
it is to the effect that her woods in Westmoreland may be well looked
after, and that John HaU of Sowerby should have the superintendence
of them. This letter she endorses with a statement that it was to be
delivered to her cousin. Sir John Lowther, that he was to call into
coimcil her very good friend Mr. George Hillton of Hillton, and that
they between them were to acquaint the tenants with her wishes.
Apparently, however, this scheme for the tenants to retain in
their own hands the rents until she came north was not successful,
^ For this and many other favours I have to thank the Earl of Lonsdale. There was not
a single document at Appleby or at Skipton relating to the long interregnum, and had it not
been for Lord Lonsdale's interest in the book, or the effort he very generously made for a
search in his family papers, I should have had but little information about this period to record.
He, most considerately, had all the original documents sent to London and placed them at
my entire disposal.
w
X
o
H .-73"
<1 *^
O
ERROR.
This letter dated 4th January, 1649, is mt from the Lowther
Estate Records, but is in private possession.
The error appears also on p. x.
LADY AXXE TO CHRISTOPHER MARSH,
4tli January, 1649 (see page 191)).
Frnm Ihc 1 mclhcr Estate Records.
- ■ ■
,:^ A^ i2. ^.-i ^ ,i^ ia,8- -^> ^- '^''
■— - - ■':■ - -~- -.^i^*-,— ^ -_:^.:::^i^____^__^.J: - '. ' 1
\..\\)\- AXXI-: To SIR RRMARD SANDFORD,
7tli August, i()47, cmlnrscd in lier .iwn bamhvritinf;.
/"/"/;; //;.■ Lnwlticr Ksltile Records.
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 191
for on the 20th September 1645, she wrote again to her cousin, Sir
John Lowther, telling him that she had altered the arrangement.
She and her two trustees (one of whom was Lord Wharton) had by
that time given instructions to a Mr. Edmond PoUard that he should
receive the rents, and she asks her cousin to render him every assistance.
She explains that the reasons for taking such a course were too lengthy
to put in a letter, that she had been hoping from time to time to come
north, and that when she did so she would explain to him with all
clearness her ideas in this matter. Again we find a postscript in this
important holograph letter, and this time it concerns the coal-pits
at-Stainmoor. She expresses her joy in hearing that they are so good,
and that they are likely to be a considerable benefit not only to her,
but to the whole county.
The third letter which is dated 14th October, 1646, is one of still
greater importance, because it is evident that by this time some of
those difficulties which were to be serious for many years had already
arisen between her and her tenants. She writes to Sir John
thanking him in no meeisured terms for the great care and pains
he had taken in her business, " by which " says she, "you increase
my obligations to you more and more." She notices that he has
cause to commend the Sheriff for his care and diligence, and is
gratified by these recommendations. She sends a message to the
Sheriff commending herself to him, thanking him for what he has
done, and telling him that if Mr. Marsh, her secretary, is able to get
away from London, letters and instructions will in due course arrive
by him. She then goes on to speak about the tenants. " Concerning
the tenants," she says, " that are so unwilling to pay to me that
which is my right from them about Stainmoor and Kirkby- Stephen
they wiU live to see that their scruples and doubts are vain, and for
any deductions more than ordinary I have no reason to allow of." "I
hope the example of the good tenants," she goes on to say, " wiU draw
over the rest to follow, if not I will send down writs and other processes
in law as I shall be advised by my friends and counsel here, though
if I can avoid it by gentle and fair means, I will not begin to use
rough courses towards my tenants there, for you know how much I
love that country, and am sorry for the case it is now in, but all places
where armies are, must of necessity have a share of these distresses
192
Lady Anne.
be their armies never so well governed." " We are," she says, "iji
hope of a peace, and then the Scotch will march home into their own
country, and the unruly Enghsh will also be gone." In the final
sentence she rejoices very much to hear that Brougham Castle is
being repaired, and that an excellent mine of lead has been found at
Keswick, which, she says, " may much help to the repairing of my
decayed castle." Her postscript concerns game. She fears that the
preserves have been brought very low, and has already heard that
such is the case.
When she came north she still continued her close correspond-
ence with Sir John Lowther, and in the earhest of her appoint-
ments for a commission to deal with the controversies between her
and her tenants, we find his name standing first in the list of those
gentlemen whom she called in to assist her. The original document
dated at Appleby, February 6th, 1649, and which is, of course,
February 6th, 1649-50, is still in existence, and it formulates as
commissioners Sir John Lowther, Mr. Hillton, Colonel Briggs, Mr.
Crackenthorpe, Mr. Clapham and Mr. Teasdale to deal with the various
questions that were at issue. With this document has been preserved
a schedule which she drew out in the previous month having reference
to certain parts of her property. The greater part of the document
is concerned with procedure respecting the woods. She does not wish
the building of the wall around Whinfell to be proceeded with at
present. She is anxious that no more timber shall be sold unless it
happens to be very old trees that are not of any particular merit,
but as to the forestry she desires to enquire personally. She refers
to the mills ax Brougham and to the rent which was in arrear, and which
had been somewhat carelessly paid; and then expresses particular
interest in the care which her commissioners are adopting towards
Brougham Castle. She is interested in learning that the lead roof
was to be replaced, so that the timber could be preserved. She
wishes very dihgent interest to be taken in this business, tmd is desirous
that one particular servant whom she mentions, Thomas Wyber,
should have special favours, because, says she, " he was a faithful
servant to my dear mother." A final clause to these instructions
refers to Appleby Castle, for she was anxious that the rooms should
be put in order after the garrison had left, so that she herself might
be able to stay in the building.
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 193
To another of the Lowther documents appointing a Sheriff we refer
later on.
Her journey north, as I have already stated, took place on the
nth of July, 1649. She was in residence at that time at Baynard's
Castle. There she took her leave of her two daughters, their lords
and her grandchildren, and then, she tells us, went out of London,
" onwardes on my Journey towards Skipton." At first she only
travelled as far as North Hall, where she had formerly Uved, and so
on, by what she calls " easy journeys," reaching Skipton on the
i8th of July, and entering into the castle, " it being," says she, " the
first time of my Comeing into it, after the pulling down of the old Castle,
which was done some six Months before by Order of Parliament,
because it had bene a Garrison in the late Civill Warres." She tells
us that she was never till then in any part of the Castle, since she had
been nine or ten weeks old, and in another place informs us that the
only part of the building which at that time she could inhabit was the
Long Gallery which had been biiilt for the Countess Eleanor.
Ten days after her arrival at Skipton, she went off to Barden,
" I went," says she, "into that old decayed Tower at Barden (it being
the first time that ever I was in that Tower)." She found this in a
complete state of ruin. It is interesting to notice how quickly she paid
a visit to Barden, because, as we have already mentioned, she had not
the slightest right to enter into that place. Her cousin had made
definite arrangements with the Courts for cutting off that part of the
estate and settling it upon his daughter, and into the possession of her
descendants it eventually came, but it was not easy to fight with Lady
Anne, and with respect to Barden, possession was nine points of the
law, and as she intended it to include the tenth also, she went out
immediately to Barden, took possession of it, and retained such pos-
session the whole of her Hfe, even going so far as to bequeath that
part of the estate to one of her daughters. It does not appear to
be Ukely that she stayed the night at Barden, although it is of course
possible that there was sufficient accommodation in the old retainer's
house (still inhabited by a direct descendant of the Lister who fought
at Flodden with Henry " the Shepherd Lord " Chfford) which was
attached to the church, for her to remain. She was quickly back
again at Skipton, where she stayed until the 7th of August, and then
9
ig4 Lady Anne.
removed to Appleby, resting on the way at Kirkby Lonsdale. On the
8th of August, she entered into Appleby Castle, " The most auntient
Seate of mine inheritance, and lay in my owne chamber there, where
I used formerly to lye with my deare Mother being the first
time 1 came into Appleby Castle aforesaid, ever since I went out of
it with my Deare Mother, the 8th day of August in one thowsand
sixe hundred and seven." She then adds one of her pious phrases,
saying " So various are the pilgrimages of this humane hfe," and a
quotation from Scripture, and as if to make the thing quite definite,
records that from the death of her cousin German, Henry, " till this
my comeing into Applebie Castle, was just five yeares and eight
monthes, wanting three dayes." It is these five and three-quarter
years about which we have practically no information whatever, save
that which is contained in the papers from Lowther Castle.
Ten days only she spent at Appleby, and then journeyed on again,
this time coming to Brougham, passing through WhinfeU, arriving at
the castle on the i8th of the month, " in which Castle and Parck,"
says she, " I had not bene since the gth of December one thowsand,
sixe hundred, and sixtene (when I was then Countess of Dorsett) till
this dale." She spent a certain time in Brougham, it is not clear
how long, because she had somewhat confused the dates in her diary,
but from Brougham she went on to the Castle of Brough, which was
decayed, thence to the Castle of Pendragon, which was in a still
worse condition, and finally to Wharton HaU, which had been the
residence of her cousin. Lord Wharton, " where I had not been,"
says she, "since August or September, one thowsand sixe hundred and
seven." Thence, after a second short visit to Skipton, she again
returned to Appleby, and there it wels, as has already been noted,
that she received the news of her husband's death, and quickly after-
wards, removed from Appleby Castle again to Skipton, resting as before
on the way at Kirkby Lonsdale. There at last she remained for a
year, " the first time that I lay for a twelvemonth together in anie of
my owne Howses." The places were all of them in a shocking state
of niin, but probably Skipton was rather better than the rest, for
she appears at first to have spent the greater part of her time in that
place, and there it was that she commenced her repairs and alterations.
One of her earliest actions was to cause the boundaries of the estate
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 195
to be ridden,* and to sunamon all her tenants to attend at the various
courts. " I employed myself in causing the Bounders to be ridden,
and my Courts kept in my several Manors in Craven, and in those
Idnd of Country Affairs about my estate which I fownd in extreame
disorder." She also started at once such repairs as were absolutely
necessary, both at Skipton and at Barden, in order that she might
be able to receive guests, and to see something of her own relatives,
and so speedily was one house put into some kind of rough repair,
that, by the beginning of September, 1651, when her cousin Elizabeth,
the only daughter of the last Earl, who was then Countess of Cork,
came to her own house at Bolton in Craven, now known as Bolton
Abbey, with her two sons and four daughters, she was able to come
over and see Lady Anne at Skipton, and stay there for a time, " during
which tyme there passed manie visits and Curtesies Betwixt her and
mee, I lyeing sometymes at Bolton with her, and shee sometimes at
Skipton with mee." " Notwithstanding," she adds, " that by reason
she was Heire to her father Henerie, Earle of Cumberland, and I to
my Father, George, Earle of Cumberland, there were divers Differences
then on foote betwixt us, but " she adds in a delicious phrase, " wee
passed them by." These difficulties no doubt concerned the Barden
Tower estate, which was exceedingly close to Bolton Abbey, but Lady
Anne must have given her cousin quite clearly to understand that she
did not intend to give up that part of the property. Lady Cork did
not remain very long at Barden, only about ten days, because the
loth of September was the first time Lady Anne writes " I saw her
or anie of her Children in the Northern parts, for then I dyned at
2 It is stated that in 165 1 Lady Anne herself rode on horseback with the party when they
rode the boundaries, and that either she or someone acting on her behalf marked certain
boundaries with her initials. There is a definite tradition in the Mallerstang district which is
borne out by the original boimdary warrants, still in existence, that the boundary through
Sopkeld, otherwise Killing Close, goes to a crab tree which had been marked by Henry, Lord
CUfford, great grandfather of the third Earl as his boimdary mark, and that in r65i when Lady
Anne rode to the place, there was an ash tree standing on that spot. The warrant dated 165 1
says that Mr. Clapham cut A. P. in the ash tree through the bark. When the boundaries were
written in 1654 for the Earl of Thanet, the ash tree was specially noted, and the warrant declares
that it still bore on its bark the initials A.P. The Mallerstang people believe the letters were cut
by Lady Anne herself. This is not very hkely to have been the case. It was not, however,
the only boundary that was marked with her initials, because each of these warrants refers
to a stone pillar on Hugh Seat, Morville, having three steps of hewn stone, on one of which is
marked a.d. 1664. This pillar is carefirlly referred to in tluree of the warrants. It is Item 17
in the warrant of 1651, Item 15 in the warrant of 1684 and Item i? in that of 1906.
196 Lady Anne.
Bolton with them," and the 26th of that month " was the last tjrme
I saw the Countess of Corck, my Cozen, at my Castle of Skipton, for
then shee tooke her leave of mee there, and went a little while after-
wards to Lonsboroughe and so upp to London." She adds the
information that Lady Cork and her children remained in London
till the beginning of September, 1652, but her husband, Lord Cork,
was at Bolton for two or three months longer than his wife, and often
came over to Skipton to see her. He eventually, however, left for
London, and they all of them, she with her Lord and six children,
went off to Ireland to his great estate there.
The initial expenses connected with the necessary journey to
Skipton and Barden were considerable, and ?t would appear as though
Lady Anne was not possessed at that time of much ready money,
and had to borrow from the Countess Dowager of Kent a hundred
pounds for her travelling expenses. This money had been lent by
Lady Kent against the security of a cabinet of silver gilt and crystal,
and a cup of heliotrope or bloodstone. The earliest letter that we
have from Lady Anne from the North, one dated 4th of January,
1649-50, is addressed to her friend Christopher Marsh, who by that
time had become her principal steward and secretary. She writes
to him expressing her satisfaction that his wife had recovered her
health, and her hope that his daughter Lucy would soon be better.
She thanks him for his resolution that he would accept the position
she had offered him in her service, and that he would take up on her
behalf the difficulties that had immediately transpired concerning
her tenants, which, if they were given against her would, she says,
" soon sink my worldly fortunes." She tells Marsh that Sir Thomas
Widdrington, Mr. Clapham, and Mr. Howell were " aU industrious
and careful " on her behalf. We have already referred to a letter
written to her by Mr. HoweU, he was evidently a lawyer of some
position. Mr. Clapham was one of her stewards, and gave special
attention to her jointure lands. There had some difficulty arisen al-
ready in connection with the hereditary Sheriffwick of Westmoreland,
for she desired her officials in this letter to be careful for her safety in
the matter of the under-sheriff, and says " the under-bailiffs may
prove dangerous creatures to her." She asks Marsh whether he has
received a bill of exchange for a hundred pounds, which she lately
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 197
sent him enclosed in a letter, and wishes to know when another of
her secretaries, Edge, will receive a further hundred pounds, which
he was to send on to her, and then she desires him that he would go
to the " widow lady of Kent," and pay the hundred pounds that
was to come from Edge to her, and receive back the cabinet and the
cup which she had pawned to her for a hundred pounds when she
came from London. In the British Museum is a letter dated two days
after this and addressed to this Lady Kent. In it, Lady Anne says
that she has arranged with the bearer of the letter, William Edge,
to restore to her the hundred pounds which she borrowed of her a
few days before she left London, and she desires Lady Kent to deliver
up to Edge the Uttle cabinet and cup which she had left at that time
" with your Ladyship to keep for me, so that he may have them in
his custody, to dispose of as I shall write him word." She goes on to
express her deep gratitude to her for her kindness.
Madam,
Your goodness and noble kindness has been so great and constant to me
for so many years together, as that there is now no creature alive, man or
woman, to whom I am so much obliged as to your worthy self, therefore do me
the right to believe, I am. Madam,
your Ladyship's cousin and most true, humble servant.
There is a postscript to this letter, in which she tells us that in her
troubles she had adopted her old procedure of turning to books, in
order to forget ansrthing that was worrsdng her, and to relieve her
mind by good literature.
I pray your Ladyship, vouchsafe to remember my love and service to the
worthy Mr. Seldon,' and tell him, that if I had not excellent Chaucer's bQok
here to comfort me, I were in a pitable case, having so many troubles as I have
here, but, when I read in that, I scorn and make light of them all, and a little
part of his beauteous spirit infuses itself in me.
Upon the back of this letter is Edge's receipt, dated February the
last, 1649, being in these words : —
Received then from the right Honourable the Countess of Kent, the
silver and gilt and crystal cabinet, and a heliotropian cup, for the use of the
* No doubt John Selden the great jurist (is84-i6S4)-
igS Lady Anne.
Right Honourable the Countess Dowager of Pembroke and Montgomery, upon
the delivery of one hundred pounds which I then paid to her Honour.
Not only were the castles in a very bad state of repair, but the
tenants were in an irritable frame of mind, and quite early there were
suits and differences in law, which, she says, " began to grow hott
betwixt my tenants and mee." In 1653, these suits were still pending,
as regards the Westmoreland tenants, " and God knows," she says,
" how long they may last, but the differences with my tenants in
Craven were for the most part resolved and taken up." It is stated,
in one book of reference, that CromweU, having great regard for her
ability, and also for the fact that her late husband had served him,
offered the assistance of the officials of the Protectorate for creating
some kind of order out of the confusion in which she found her affairs
with her tenants, and that she, with some indignation, remarked,
" Does he imagine that /, who Refused to submit to King James,
wiU submit to him ? " CromweU seems to have been greatly amused
at the calm way in which she dechned his assistance, and later on,
when it was told her that if she built up her castles he would have
them destroyed, she sent a message to him, so George Sedgwick
tells us, sajdng, " Let him destroy them if he wiU, but he shall surely
find that as often as he destroys them I will rebuild them, while he
leaves me a shilling in my pocket." He expressed to those about
him at Court, his great admiration for the only woman who had dared
in such definite fashion to stand up against him, adding " let her
build what she will, she shall have no hindrance from me."
The confusion certainly must have been serious, and we are not
surprised at the offer of the Protector to intervene on her behalf.
For some years, certainly for five, the tenants had not been paying
any rent, and had got wholly out of hand. During the more serious
time of the Civil Wars, and especially at the time when King Charles
was tried and beheaded, there was no agent holding the proper
authority for the collecting of the rents, and, as we have seen, it was
impossible for Lady Anne to go down herself to look after the estates.
The boundaries had been overstepped in all directions, no manorial
courts had been held, and it is small wonder that she found everything
in a high state of disorder when she arrived. Added to all this, every
castle was in a ruinous condition, not one was fit to live in. Sldpton
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 199
and Appleby were perhaps the best of all, but Barden, Pendragon,
Brougham and Brough were nothing more than piles of ruins, and
she quickly made up her mind that they should all of them be restored.
Her first step was to start the restoration of the great tower at
Appleby, and she herself laid the foundation stone on the 21st of
February, and records the fact that by July, 1653, these repairs had
been completed, and the place was fit for residence. She had, so far
as she was able to do so, ended the feud between Lady Cork, the
daughter of her cousin, and herself, and become as friendly as she
coiild with her, but as she had taken possession of an important
piece of Lady Cork's property, and showed every sign of intending
to hold it for the rest of her life, it was not Ukely that the friendship
would be of a very intimate character.
At Appleby she had the annoyance of a visit from Major-General
Harrison, " who came hither," she says, " with his forces, for then
the Warres was hott in Scotland." He filled Appleby with soldiers,
" whoe lay there," she says, " a great part of thatt Somer," but
she expressly adds that she did not suffer much harm or damage
from them. She did, however, have a passage of arms with Harrison
himself, and we learn the story of it from the funeral sermon
preached by Bishop Rainbow on the occasion of her decease. He
spoke of Harrison as being " more terribly phanatical than any
in his Host, terrible even to himself and his usurping Power."
Harrison declared that Lady Anne was sending assistance to some
Royalist forces, and consequently working against the Protectorate,
and Rainbow adds that Harrison, being unable to make proof of his
statement, " would needs know her opinion, and dispute her out of
her Loyalty at a time when she slept and lived but at his mercy, giving
her Alarms night and day when he hsted." She was not, however,
in the least ashamed, being amongst her own people, of declaring her
definite opinions ; and the Bishop goes on to say that " this undaimted
Lady would not so easily 57ield," and " having Truth and Loyalty
on her side, she would not betray them at the peril of her Hfe and
fortune, but boldly asserted " to Harrison " that she did love the
King, that she would five and die in her Loyal thoughts to the King,"
and her courage made such an impression upon him that the Bishop
says it " dulled the edge of so sharp an Adversary, that by God's
merciful restraint he did her no harm at that time."
200 Lady Anne.
It was at this same time that she started the work of rebtdlding
other parts of her castle at Appleby, to which fuller reference is given
in another place, but one of her earliest desires was to gather about
her a little group of high of&cials who would assist her in the manage-
ment of her estate, and who would be devoted to her service. We now
learn for the first time of Mr. George Sedgwick, who became her
secretary. In one of the few entries in her own hand in the great
diary is the one which records his entrance into her service. The
amanuensis, who was working at the diary, seems to have omitted this
particular piece of information, and so she wrote herself, " Now on
this 24th of July, 1652, did Mr. George Sedgwicks come hither from
London to me as my secretary and one of my chief officers." This
man she had already known, and he himself has told his story of how
first of all he came into contact with his mistress.* He had been
educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, but when he took his
degree and came home had not decided on an occupation, and
straitened means prevented his following his original purpose.
" My father," say^ he, " studying all ways and means to provide
for me, God put into his mind to make use of a letter, which many
years he had carefully kept, written from the Lady Margaret, Cotmtess
of Cumberland, to my grandfather, Mr. Jeffrey Sedgwick, giving him
many thanks for his upright dealing as a juror at York, in the great
case there tried, between her daughter, then Countess of Dorset,
and Francis, Earl of Cumberland, her uncle, with which letter she
also sent my said grandfather half a buck, and a gold ring with this
motto. Truth is crowned." He then goes on to tell us that his
father one fine morning, taking the letter in his hand, went along
with his son " to the Court at Whitehall," to wait upon Lady Anne,
who was at that time the wife of Lord Pembroke, then Lord Chamber-
lain of the Household. " As soon as that lady," says he, " saw that
letter of her dear mother, whom she loved with an entire affection,
she seemed very glad of a present opportunity she then had to do
me good, so she sent forthwith for one of her Lord's secretaries, whom
she called cousin,^ who was then destitute of a young clerk, and im-
mediately preferred me to him. And with him I continued five or
* See MS. quoted by Nicholson and Bum and dated December, i68a.
^ Possibly Caldecott, see p. 184.
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 201
six years, very happily and contentedly." Later on Sedgwick became
secretary to Lord Pembroke himself, and then for a while to his
successor, the next Earl, but time passed along and he was again out
of employment, and then proposing to go to sea, when Lady Anne,
who had a clear remembrance of him, sent for him and made him her
secretary. He teUs us of this in the following words : —
" But at this juncture of time the countess dowager of Pembroke,
being then at her castle of Skipton, and hearing of my intention,
dissuaded me by letters from so long a voyage, and invited me to
come down to her, to write all her post letters, make all her leases,
and receive and pay all her money, offering me a liberal allowance
for the same. This course I rather embraced, being near my friends,
and the place of my nativity, which all sorts of people love ; rather
than run the hazard perhaps of ending my life among pagans and
infidels in a foreign climate.
So in August, 1652, I came down to Skipton where I began to do
her ladyship the best service I could. Where after I had continued
to my great contentment about four years, her ladyship then proposed
to me her earnest desire for me to go over sea, into France, Flanders
and the Low Coimtries, with her grandson Mr. John Tufton, since
Earl of Thanet deceased. I was to take charge of him abroad some
two years in those parts, and to order his exercises and expenses, for
which she promised to give us good allowance.
I must confess I had no great inclination to it ; but by reason of
the manifold favours I had received from her, and the desire I had
to see foreign countries, I could not in gratitude deny her ladyship
the best service I was able to perform.
According to her promise, she was pleased to assign us 400/. a year
for our expences, for Mr. Tufton, his man, a footman and myself.
Besides 50I. more for Mr. Tufton's cloaths yearly, and 20/. for my
own. AH which money she took punctual order to be duly returned
to us, by bills of exchange from London, to what place soever we were
then at abroad.
Before my going over sea, my lady gave me a rent charge of 20/,
a year for 21 years, and 50^. in gold. At our return also 100/. in money,
and another rent charge of 20/. a year, both of which I enjoyed tiU
the expiration of those terms."
202 Lady Anne.
Sedgwick continued for a long time in Lady Anne's service, and
was responsible for most of the letters which she dictated to him and
for a great part of her diary and her Day-by-Day Book. He continues
his narrative thus : —
" After i8 years' service with this good lady she began to mind
me of myself and my future well-being in the world, often repeating
to me a verse of Mr. Samuel Daniel, the famous poet and historio-
grapher, who had been her instructor in her childhood and youth :
To have some silly homeT I do desire,
Loth still to warm me by another's fire.
She further declared her noble intention to me, that when I met with
some small habitation, she would give 200/. towards the purchase,
which she punctually performed.
Within a while, God directed me to Collinfield, a small estate held
under Queen Katherine, as part of her jointure, by a moderate rent and
fine, convenient for the church and market, freed from all assizes and
sessions ; where by God's blessing I enjoy a quiet and retired life to
my contentment ; having oftentimes the society of several of my
worthy friends and neighbours from the town of Kendal ; having
lived here above 14 years at the writing hereof " [viz., in December,
1682] .8
To this information we are in a position to add a few facts. Collin
Field is a quaint little manor house standing on the Milnthorpe road
leading out of Kendal. The house is clearly a sixteenth-century
erection, and stands round a little quadrangle of its own, the entrance
porch bearing upon it an inscribed stone, which is by some authorities
said to have come from Brougham Castle, but little can be said in
favour of such a tradition. It bears upon it the following inscription :
NUNC MEA Mox HVivs SED POSTEA NEScio cvivs together with the
date 1663, and the three initials I.G. and M., the G. being super-
imposed above the other two letters. In one of the rooms there is
an interesting carved oak cupboard door which bears the initials
of George Sedgwick and the date 1674. In another is an important
' See Nicholson and Bum's History of Westmorland, vol. i.
'See Cumb. (t West. Arch. Society, vol.ix, Art xiii., p. i88 and also Nicholson's Annals ol
Kendal.
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Flinlos fir Mr. Paul Mason.
COLLIN FIELD, near KHXDAL
(see pages 202 — 21 -.-i).
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 203
carved oak series of cupboards forming a kind of pantry erection,
in which doubtless silver-plate was at one time kept, and this
also bears the initials G.S. and the date 1675. Upstairs in one
of the fooms is a very interesting piece of stained glass — a roundel —
on which is represented a man ploughing. This is probably earlier
than Sedgwick's time. His father Jeffrey was living in the house
in 1620, and the glass is at least as early as that date, possibly even a
little earlier still. On the interior of the front door is a very striking
record of the connection between Sedgwick and Lady Anne. The
door bears one of the great stock locks inscribed A. P. which Lady
Anne so frequently gave away, and similar to those at Rose
Castle, Dacre Church and Dalemain House. Fortunately, also, the
original key is preserved : a fine example of locksmith's work.
Sedgwick lived in this house for many years, and here it was that
he died in 1685 at the age of 67. He was buried at Kendal. His
tomb cannot now be seen, as the pulpit covers it, but the inscription
in curious Latin, commemorating his abiUties, is a simple framed
memorial which hangs at the west end and next to the African War
Memorial, and is probably a copy of that on the tomb.®
In one of the rooms upstairs at Collin Field which had an oak
floor, was at one time a fine carved oak bedstead on which were
the letters A.P. This w£is presented by Lady Anne to Sedgwick,
and was used by her on her various visits to her secretary. The
same room contained a portrait of the redoubtable lady herself,
which is stiU in existence. George Sedgwick left the property to his
nephew George, who sold it in 1747 to the Yeates family, its present
owners. Unfortunately, it has been allowed to fall into disrepair
and is now (1919) only a small farmhouse, although worthy of being
treated with far more care, inasmuch as with a comparatively small ex-
penditure, it could be restored to very much of its original condition.
' The inscription is as follows : —
M.S. Viri vere Generosi, Plurimisque uominibus desideratissuni Georgii Sedgwick. Qui,
Omnibus cultioris humanltatis dotibus, abunde ornatus Honorabili D.D. Philippo Comiti
Penbrochiensi Celeberrmiae deinde illius Viduae Amanuensis sibi Locum meruit ; cujus
familii (qua nemo Famulus non floruit) Annis pariter atque opibus auctus (monente munifi-
centissim4 Doming Partis faeliciter fruendis Sedem Senectuti suae comparare) Fundum, huic
Municipio vicinum, emit dictum CoUinfeild Vbi plus tribus lustris Singulari in pauperes
Charitate, Amidtia in proximos, Erga omnes benevolentia Notis, omnibus Charus et amabilis
vizit. Nee paudoribus flebilis obijt Dedmo Die Junii Anno Salutis Humans MDCLXXXLV
Aetatis suae LXVIL
204 Lady Anne.
It was in the same year (1652) that she appointed Thomas Gabetis
to be her deputy-sheriff for Westmoreland, by a signed and
sealed patent, and although the actual document does not now exist
among the records at Skipton, and is probably in the Crown office,
yet it has been interesting to discover another document in which
Gabetis is aUuded to, dated in the same year. We have before us
the signed and sealed deed by which she appoints John King of
Skipton her attorney, in order that he may deal with certain rents,
ejectments, and other difficulties concerning certain tenantry in that
place, and this is witnessed by her deputy sheriff, Thomas Gabetis ;
by WiUiam Edge, to whom we have referred in connection with the
loan made by Lady Kent upon the bloodstone cup ; and by George
Sedgwick, who had just entered her permanent employ. It bears her
stately and characteristic signature, and is sealed with the crest
of the Clifford family, surmounted by an Earl's coronet. The elaborate
twisted flourish at the commencement of the letter " A " in the word
" Anne," she appears to have adopted when quite a child. It will be
noticed in almost identical form in the first letter we have in her
writing, addressed to her mother when she was fifteen years old.
Her faithful servant, Gabetis, lived till 1694, and died at the age of
eighty-six. He is buried in the church at Brough-under-Stainmore,*
and appears to have spent the last few years of his life either in Brough
Castle or close by. He is declared on his monument to have been
forty years deputy-sheriff of Westmoreland and is said to have come
originally from Crosby Ravensworth.^"
' The quaint inscription to his memory reads thus : —
Thos. Gabetis Esqre.
The Wise, the Eloquent, the jvst
Lyes here Interred amongst ye dvst
Below, who Forty yeares and more
Was sheriflEe, Now in Heaven's Store
Was Fresh and Understanding too
At 86 As Those That Woo
When Death With Crooked Syth & glass
Set out ye Bovnds he shvd not Pass
Saint Like his Sickness And his Death
So Sweet As Might Perfume ye Earth
Doubtless ye Spottless Sovle of His
Is gone into Eternal Bliss
Obiit 25 Die Martii
Anno Salvtis 1649.
10 We believe that the present Gabitas family are from the same stock.
Lady Anne Succeeds to her Estates. 205
In the same church is buried another of her servants, George
Vincent (already mentioned), steward of another portion of the
estates. He died in the Roman Tower in Brough Castle, in 1665."
Having started the repairs of the various places, arranged several
questions respecting boundaries and rents, constituted her manorial
courts, and appointed some of her chief officers, she had the opportunity,
as soon as Harrison left, of giving some attention to domestic affairs,
and so refers with considerable interest to different matters connected
with the family which caused her great satisfaction. She speaks of
the visit of Lord Thanet to her, the first time that she ever saw him
at Skipton, and on that occasion teUs us that he brought with him
his second son, John Tufton, who was her godson, and her particular
favourite, and he made his first visit to Skipton and to Appleby
before he went south to see his mother, and then on " to Eaton CoUedge,
there to studdie for some tjnne and to Hve as a SchoUer." She aUudes
to the birth of her daughter's eleventh child. Lady Mary Tufton,
and " accounted " herself " happie to have a Grandechild of myne
of that Blessed name." Curiously enough, in the book of her records,
and in the pedigree of the Tuftons, she invariably spells the girl's
name " Marie," although in all the accepted books of reference, it is
recorded as Mary. She was able to keep Christmas, 1652, in the
north, many of her family, including her grandchild John Tufton,
about her, and she mentions that it was the first time any of her grand-
children were with her in Westmoreland for Christmas, adding with
characteristic ingenuity, " The Numerousness of my Posteritye and
all other Benefits whatsoever, I believe were bestowed upon mee,
for the Heavenly goodness of my Deare Mother."
So she settled down, to start her Ufe in the north, and writes
" I doe more and more fall in Love with the contentments and
innocent Pleasures of Countrey Life." She wished with all her heart
that these same pleasures might be conferred on her posterity.
" But," adds she, " this must be left to a succeeding Providence,
for none can know what shall come after them, but to invite them
to itt that saying in the 16 Psalm may bee fittingly applyed, ' The
^ This tomb is mscnbed : — "Here lyes Mr. George Vincent, Steward to Lady Anne
and chief director of all her buildings in the North, who dyed in the Roman Tower of Brougli
Caiitle like a good Christian i3 February, 1665."
2o6 Lady Anne.
lot is fallen into mee in a pleasant Place, I have a faire Heritage.' "
She then proceeds to quote a verse of her tutor Samuel Daniel's
poem :
From many noble Progenitors I hold
Transmitted Landes, Castles and Honors which they swayed of old.
and adds
A wise body ought to make their own homes the place of self-fruition.
She never could forget the action of her mother in fighting for her.
She says " All which Benefitts have beene bestowed upon mee for
the heavenly goodness of my Dear Mother, whose fervent Prayers
were offered upp with greate zeale to Almighty God for mee and mine,
and had fine return of Blessings followed them, so that, though I mett
with some bitter and wicked Enemies, and many greate oppositions
in this world, yet were my deliverances soe greate as could not befall
to any who were not visibly suste5med by a Divine favour from above."
All was well at last. She had her entire estate and to keep it up, two
substantial jointures, and had also succeeded at last to the legacy of
fifteen thousand pounds which her father had left for her many years
before. It was only now left for her, to devote her time to rebuilding
her castles, and managing her vast estates, provided she could enter
into proper relationships with her tenantry. They constituted her
principal difficulty at the moment. The first case she took up in
Chancery between her and them was dismissed, and she was left to
her remedy at common law " to which business," says she, " God
send some good conclusion, for it hath been both chargeable and
troublesome unto mee." She did not allow matters to rest at that
point, and as her tenants were obstinate and refractory, issued a series
of ejectments, and then started a fresh trial concerning the leases of
the estate, and adds in her customary pious fashion, " God send it
good success."
A Uttle bundle of papers that has recently been found at the Record
Office supplies us -^ith some interesting information concerning
these difficulties between Lady Anne and her tenants. Fortunately
the bundle is extraordinarily complete for our purpose, for it not only
contains two petitions from the tenants to the Committee for In-
demnity, sitting during the time of the Interregnum ; but the arrange-
Lady Anne Succeeds to ber Estates. 207
ments between the respective solicitors for the hearing of the trial and
the decision of the Committee. The two petitions are dated
respectively 25 February, 1649 and 16 July, 1650. They are from
edl the tenants of the Westmoreland estates, and bear attached to
them a long list of names.^^
The tenants set forth that as neither Lady Anne nor her agents
had demanded any rents for several years past, the rents had become
in arrear. They say that she had now strictly demanded full pay-
ment of all the rents, and that in response to their request to have
what they called " such reasonable allowances and defalcations out
of the rents and arrears " as had been arranged by ordinances and
Acts of Parliament, she had utterly refused to make any such
allowances, and by her stewards and agents had not only distrained
upon her tenants, but had in many instances taken away their
cattle, whereby say they, " they are utterly disabled to maintain
their families, and to make tillage of their tenewents, their stock
being wholly taken away for the reason aforesaid." They go on to
add that they are extremely impoverished through the county having
been both in the first and second wars the seat of war, that they have
humbly entreated her to grant them these allowances, and that she
" peremptually " refused, and they added finally that she had even
imprisoned one of her own collectors, John Wardall, because he would
not execute what these tenants considered to be " oppressive and
unwarrantable demands," and that she had threatened to imprison
others for the same reason. They prayed the Committee to force
her to desist of what they termed " vexacious and injurious proceedings'
to make such allowances as were desirable and to indemify them.
Apparently all didnot go well with this petition, because it was followed
by a second one in which the tenants appoint a solicitor, one Thomas
Wharton, to represent them. They repeated in this all their
accusations against Lady Anne, they even increased them and asked
that an order that had been made on a previous May in respect to one
or two of the tenants might be enlarged in favour of all of them, and
12 It is of peculiar interest to notice that there are no less than eleven tenants now on the
Westmoreland estate who bear the same names as the persons who signed this document. There
are two members of the Rudd family, and two of the Hodgson family, and also two of the
Bousfield family still tenants on the Clifford property, as well as representatives of the families
of Wharton, Williamson, Monkhouse, Robinson and Shaw.
2o8 Lady Anne.
that a commission might be appointed to receive their evidence and
to deal with the whole question, and then they promised obedience
to its decision.
There follows in the bundle a series of four little papers — arrange-
ments between the respective solicitors that the matter should be
postponed until November, 1650 — instructions that Lady Anne should
attend at the hearing by herself or by someone on her behalf, and
arrangements concerning the witnesses; the Justices of the Peace,
who were to hear part of the appeal ; the places where the Commission
was to sit ; and finally an informal arrangement that during the time
of hearing Lady Anne was to forbear " to prosecute the petitioners
by arrest or imprisonment."
On the 26th November, 1650, the Commissioners gave their decision.
They stated that they had given serious consideration and debate
to the whole matter, that council and witnesses had been heard on
both sides, but they did not consider that the tenants had proved their
right to these allowances, and that certainly they could not give any
judgement concerning any such reductions. They ordered, therefore,
that the petition should be dismissed, and they added that Lady Anne
should be left " to her own proceedings as she shall see cause."
It was at about this time of her Ufe that she appears to have
started her Day-by-Day Book, the greater part of which, unfortunately,
has disappeared, but she also, in this very same year, 1652, originated
what we now call her Diary, but which she always called " A summarie
of my own Ufe," and which she expressly tells us was commenced in
1652, and written up at different intervals from the material already
in existence in other parts of her great volumes of records, and from
what she deemed worthy of more prominent notice in the Day-by-Day
Book. It is to the pages of this summary that we are indebted for
most of the information that will appear in the succeeding chapters.
What is set down is not a question of hearsay, as must have been the
case for some of the material written before 1652, but from this date
onwards it was a bare record of facts.
Of the very few last months of her life we shaU be able to refer to
the actual Day-by-Day Book, as we have been able to discover a few
pages of that volume which, in its entirety, must have been of
considerable importance.
209
CHAPTER XII.
ANOTHER BtlNDLE OF LETTERS.
LORD Dorset's will was dated the 26tli of March, 1624, and by
it he left to his " dearly beloved wife all her wearing apparel,
and such rings and jewels as were hers on her marriage," also
the " rock ruby ring " which he had given her, and " threescore
pieces of silver, containing in the whole eleven hundred and sixty
ounces," referred to in an inventory dated 1623. Furthermore, she
was to have " six silver candlesticks " which were then in the custody
of his "servant Edward Lindsey," and which weighed " 128 ounces,"
three silver Basons and Ewers, ordinarily used at Knole, " half of the
linen " there, and his carroch or coach, which had been built by
Meffljoi, was lined with green cloth and laced with green and black
silk lace, and his six bay coach horses to draw it. He also left her
£500, and he bequeathed to his two daughters portions, the one of six
thousand pounds, and the other of four thousand pounds, adding that
the two hundred pounds which he had "in old gold" was also to
be delivered to his two daughters. He made particular arrangements
about the pajmients of his debts, and bequeathed to his uncle. Lord
William Howard, one of his executors, two hundred pounds, " either
for a ring, or plate, which he may prefer, as a token of good will and
love," and in no way, he added " as a recompense for the pains he
hath already taken, for which no satisfaction can be made." A similar
legacy was bequeathed to the other executor Sir George Rivers,^
" his faithful and loving friend." The will contained a legacy to his
cousin and goddaughter Mary Nevill,^ of five hundred pounds, which
she was to receive at the age of eighteen years, and bequests to many
1 Knighted, August 30th, 1605.
* Third daughter of Thos., ist Earl and wife of Sir H. Nevill afterwards Lord Abergavenny.
P
210 Lady Anne.
of his servants, three of them receiving a hundred pounds each, and
one £40, while to several others there were annuities, one receiving
£40 a year, three others £30 each, and three £20 each. To servants
of lesser importance were left annuities of twenty marks a year. The
whole estate was bequeathed to his executors with power to seU the
manor of Hove or any other manor for the payment of his debts, as
he was, says the will, " desirous above all things that debts should
be paid," and it refers lengthily to arrangements made by previous
indentures concerning the manors, all of which were to come to his
brother, who succeeded him in the title, together with the residue of
his silver and household goods, after the payment of debts, or after
raising money for that purpose. To the clauses relative to Sackville
Hospital and to those concerning his tomb I refer in another place.
His apparel was to be divided amongst his servants, except certain
specially rich state apparel, which was left to his brother, and an
embroidered suit, which was to go to Captain Sackville. By a codicil,
a particular cloak was left to his wife.
There is a small bimdle of letters in the mimiment room at Appleby
from Lady Anne to her friend and steward Mr. Christopher Marsh.
They aU relate to the period when she made her first visit to the
north, the earliest being dated the 28th of February, 1649, ^^^ ^^
latest November, 1653. It may be well, therefore, to deal with
these letters in this chapter, especially as one or two of them are
concerned with the legacies mentioned above.
In the earliest letter in the group, dated 28th of February, 1649,
and written from Skipton Castle, she tells Mr. Marsh that she has
heard by letters " lately come from several fellows " from London,
" that my late Lord's goods are sold and disposed of apace, so,"
she says " if you do not use moneys speedily to " the executors, " that
I may have right done me for my small legacy, I am like to have but
a cold catch of it." Referring to wishes expressed by Lord Northamp-
ton, she teUs Mr. Marsh that " whatsoever my Lord of Northampton
and his wife, my daughter, wishes " was to be done, " and then they
cannot blame me for it hereafter." She thanks Mr. Marsh for his
advice concerning a house which she possessed in Salisbury Court,
and also about the property at Clifford's Inn, and adds respecting this
London estate, " My Lady of Cork will cozen me of it, if she can."
Another Bundle of Letters. _ 211
She understands that Baynard's Castle was likely to be sold. If it was
not so, she would sooner stay there than anywhere else, if ever she came
to London agtiin, and so she wishes him to make an inquiry whether
or not it will be in the market. Mr. Marsh had evidently written to
her concerning a servant whom she speaks of as " old John Morton,"
and who had left Lord Thanet's employment. She says " I am sorry
my Lord of Thanet hath put him away, but I cannot take him, for
I have a porter already, one at Appleby, and another here."
She sends particularly kind messages to Lady Kent, Mr. Selden,
and Sir Edward Leach,* who had all been, she says " worthy kind
friends to me," and she expresses much satisfaction at hearing that
Mr. Marsh had come into contact with her cousin Robert Lowther,
whom she hopes will represent her in her manorial courts. She owes
him some money, which she begs Mr. Marsh to pay him, but in a
postscript she says that she has just heard that he will wait for his
money until May, and for this delay she is very grateful. She tells
Mr. Marsh that she will be " most extreamely glad " to see him down
at SMpton.
The next letter we have from her is dated the 19th of April, and a
portion of it is quoted in the chapter concerning her diary, as it relates
to the writer of the book and to the paper upon which it is written;
She explains the cause of her long silence. " I write the seldomer,"
she puts it, " because it costs so much money for the sending of the
letters, and we have so Uttle store of that in these parts." She
expresses regret that her cousin Richard Lowther was not able to sit
as steward at her courts, and says that in his place she appointed
Mr. John Thwaites. The other part of the letter refers to the enclo-
sures, which were bills of exchange, and contains instructions both to
Marsh and to Edge to pay one or two special accounts, and some
other " little dribhng notes," which she owed.
We have three letters dated December of that year, each of them
of some length. In the first, which has not the day of the month;
but which must have preceded one dated the nth, she refers in kindly
fashion to Mrs. Marsh. " I perceive, when you writ your last letter
to me, you were then agoing to your wife at Chenies " [where the
Marshes lived, as he evidently was concerned in the management of
* JCaighted, Sept. gth, 162;,
212 Lady Anne.
part of the Earl of Bedford's estate] who it seems had been very sick
there a little before. " I pray you commend me very kindly to her,
and tell her that by the next return, I hope I shall hear of her recovery.
Thank you," she adds, " for giving order before your going from
London, to Mr. Christopher Clapham to send for me from Chenies "
certain papers apparently referring to lawsuits " for if I should be
foiled," she adds, " in this suit-in-law between me and my tenants
here in Westmoreland, I and my posterity should have our fortimes
in this country in a manner quite overthrown, however," she says,
"follow it hard, as ever you love them or me, and if it pleases God to
send me the victory, I will in general be as mild, gentle and good to
my tenants as anybody ever was, but withoiit going to law with them,
I am like to get nothing from them." She refers with great gratitude
to the assistance of all her officials, especially " good and kind
Mr. Clapham, Sir Thomas Widdrington * and Mr. Howell," « " God
reward them for it." She directs Marsh to deliver to John Howell
her lawyer £io, " for I perceive he hath done passing well in my
business." She also instructs him to pay Mr. Clapham, " for what
he hath laid out in this law business of mine," and to pay several
other people their debts, and then she tells him that, when he comes
to town, he is to buy a piece of silver plate to the value of four or
five pounds or more, and hand that to Mr. Clapham, to give to Mr.
Rushworth, " as twas me," and he was also to give him four or five
twenty-shilling pieces, in addition to the piece of plate, " for," says
she, " he hath done me many favours and kindnesses since I came
into the North, as Mr. Clapham can tell you." She evidently felt a
deep sense of gratitude for the services rendered to her both by
Mr. Clapham and Sir Thomas Widdrington, for in a postscript to this
letter she says, " For Mr. Christopher Clapham, I will, as God shall
enable me, requite his pains in one way or another, and Sir Thomas
Widdrington, I will, if I can, send him something that is fit, from here,
or if I cannot, I will write you word, and then you shall deliver him
something from me, as I shall write you word, but," she goes on to say,
* A Commissioner of the Treasury, and later on of tlie Great Seal and eventually a Baron of
the Exchequer.
^ Probably the Serjeant ol later days who in 1668 became Sir John Howell and Deputy
{Recorder for the City of London,
Another Bundle of Letters. 213
" if you should be pinching or sparing of costs in this law suit of mine
against my tenants here, you might therein do me much harm."
Lord Northampton apparently was to have received for his wife
five thousand pounds out of the money that had been taken by the
Earl of Dorset for the Craven estate, and she was anxious to know
whether he had yet obtained it. She tells Marsh to write her word
as soon as he can know with certainty whether Lord Northampton
has received it, or, if not, how much he has had, " for it is very needful
for me to know the certainty of it, but," says she, " handle this inatter
with some cunning, for I would not have it known that I inquire
after it, but do it as from yourself." The remainder of the letter
refers to the dispute between her and her tenantry concerning certain
money matters connected with the estate, not of any special import-
ance, and about some of them it is not easy, after this lapse of time,
to understand her meaning.
On the nth Lady Anne writes again .about the controversy with
the tenants, and about one section of the lawsuit she is desirous of
driving to a conclusion. She says, " If it be possible, let some end
be made of it, or else it wiU be extremely prejudicial to the land."
Lady Cecilia Compton had written to her. " My cousin Compton,"
she sajTS, " writ to me lately a letter of kindness, but no business, so
I did not return any answer to it, but desired my daughter of North-
ampton to excuse me for not writing to that aunt-in-law of hers for
many reasons." There was evidently some friction between her and
Lady Cecilia, and she was not able to obtain a business-like letter
from her. Until she wrote in the way Lady Anne desired, she did
not intend to bother herself about corresponding with her. She then
refers to a consultation which had taken place in Sir Thomas Wid-
drington's chambers concerning the suit against the tenants. Mr.
Howell, Mr. Clapham, and others had met in consultation. It had been
decided that the best course was to sue a writ in Chancery, and this
had been submitted to Lady Anne. To it she agreed, and instructed
Marsh to start the arrangements at once, but says that, if the tenants
" will come to offer me some reasonable conditions of peace and
agreement, I assure you, I will embrace and accept of them with aU
my heart, for," says she, " I love law and lawsuits no better than
you do." There is the briefest possible reference to public events in
214 Lady Anne.
this letter. She says, " I perceive there be troubles in France by
your letter, which Thomas Garth also told me."
Then, on Christmas Day, she writes again, sending to Marsh a biU
of exchange for a hundred pounds, and asking him to let her know
that it had safely arrived, and begging him not to be sparing in using
it for the law action, " for if you be," says she, " you may do me
much harm." Forty pounds of it was to go to Matthew Hale,* five
to his cousin and servant Mr. Joseph Poynes (probably his clerk) and
they were to sign an acquittance for these sums, which she enclosed
with the letter, " only the date for the day and year I have left out,
as not knowing what day it wiU be paid on, and when you have them,
send them endorsed in the letter to me, and entreat them both to be
careful in this business of mine." Furthermore, she gives instructions
for a pajmient of five pounds to be made to Lord Tufton, and a similar
sum to Mr. Jenkins, and makes inquiries concerning the ;^I50 she stiU
owes Robert Lowther, her cousin, telling Marsh that she has had a
talk with Sir John Lowther, his nephew, about it, and that she has
agreed to pay that presently, together with three pounds interest.
She concludes by saying, " I perceive your wife and your daughter
Lucy hath been lately ill both of them, but I hope by this time they
are perfectly recovered. Commend me to them," and she then at
the end refers to the fact that some of the writs which were sent
down to be served on the tenants were not accurately drafted, and
says that Mr. Howell and Mr. Clapham wiU tell him all the details
concerning them. There are comments on this letter in Marsh's
handwriting, saying that he had paid various sums of money out of
the himdred pounds, which she had sent him.
In the order of date, the next letter is one written from Skipton
on the 25th of March, 1650, and sent to Mr. Edge at Baynard's
Castle, to be given to Marsh, who was probably coming to that house,
or else, if he did not come, it was to be sent down to Chenies. She
says that her commissioners, who were five in number, and who
consisted of her cousin Sir Henry Chohnondely, Mr. Charles Fairfax,
Mr. Christopher Clapham, Mr. Peter Jermings, and Mr. Robert Hitch,
had commenced their sittings concerning her affairs in the great
* Baron of the Exchequer 1660, Justice of Common Pleas 1654, Sir Matthew and Chief
Justice of the King's Bench 1671.
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Another Bundle of Letters. 215
chamber at the castle, summoning the tenants before them. She says
that they sat for seven days, " I sitting myself for the most part with
them." " In conclusion, we did compound so with some of my
Craven tenants, as that I hope shortly to send my son-in-law part of
the money I owe him from here, and also pay some few of my debts
in this country and elsewhere." The fact that the rents had not been
paid for some five years had made many of the tenants indisposed to
pay anything, but the commissioners, it is clear, had been successful
in arranging terms, and some of the money due to Lady Anne was to
come in to her. The Westmoreland tenants were not as easy. " My
tenants in Westmoreland, some of them, did put in a petition, a very
untrue one, in many places against me, to the Parliament, and to the
Committee of Indemnity but it came not till very lately,"
says she, " to my hands." She forwards in this letter a copy of the
petition which was to be given to Mr. John Howell the lawyer, and
she begs Marsh to join with him in pushing this matter forward.
"Give Mr. Howell," she says, "what you think fit for his pains in this
my business, if you have brought my rents out of Sussex." She was
evidently anxious that there should be proper " quittances " for any
money that was paid, so as to avoid complications in the future.
" I pray you," says she, " fail not, when you and Jack Turner deliver
the five hundred poimds to my daughter of Northampton, to take
her quittance, and her lord's, vmder their hands, at least his, in a legal
way, to show they have received it, as a part of that which is due
to him out of my lands in Craven, for so the quittance must be drawn,
or else I have wrong." Turner, to whom she had alluded, was the
person who had received her rents in the Isle of Sheppey, and she begs
Marsh to give him any assistance in his power, and to let him have in
his possession a copy of her jointure deed, and of all the deeds belonging
to it, or, if he thinks fit, he may let him have the jointure itself. She
then goes on to remind him to press forward the steps he was already
taking concerning her legacy against Lord Dorset's executors.
" The legacy my Lord left me, if so I may have it set out speedily
before all be gone," and she says that she would also like to have
" some of my Lord's diamond buttons," or some of those kind of
things, adding, " They might do me much good for some kind of
purpose," her apparent desire being to get something that would be
2i6 Lady Anne.
of some monetary value, in case she was not able to obtain the whole
of her small legacy from the executors.
We then come to a long letter written on the 15th of July, the
greater part of which is the work of an amanuensis, but she has added
to it a postscript almost as long as the letter itself. Some considerable
part of it relates to the dispute concerning SackviUe College, which
I refer to in another place. She says " I perceive by your last letter
that you will be wary in giving too much for the value of the stuff
which is my legacy from my late Lord, wherein " says she, " you
shaU do very weU, for anything I can perceive by the notes I have
had of it, from William Edge, it is so poor and so contemptible ....
and it is worth very little, yet," she says, " sooner than have any
difference with my Lord's executors about it " she will give whatever
is considered right, but wishes the matter brought to an end, and the
things, or the stuff, as she calls it, sent down by sea, for fear that she
should never have it. She was evidently unable to get the business
matter between herself and her cousin Lady Ceciha Compton settled,
she says that it was being delayed, and that Lord Northampton was
accepting the delay. It was not wholly her concern. " I have little
interest now in that business," she says, " it being whoUy in my
daughter of Northampton and her lord."
She gives a scrap of public news, for she says " I perceive that
General Cromwell hath been very kind imto my Lord of Northampton
about his composition," and she sa37s " I pray God send I may hear
it may come to good end speedily." In her lengthy postscript, she
apologies for the hand of the amanuensis, " I am glad now and then to
get another to write for me, being tired and much moiled sometimes
with my business here at Appelby, where I find many and strange
oppositions, which nevertheless I hope I shall with patience pass over."
Marsh had evidently told her that he could not come down to SMpton.
" I see by your letter that you doubt you shall not come hither to me
this summer, which, when I read it, did even make me shed to some
tears, for you cannot desire to see me more than I desire to see you,
but if I should stir from home before I have done some things in my
business here to the purpose, my worldly fortunes in these northern
parts in Craven and Westmoreland would slide back to the wonted
ill habit again, for I did not receive out of Westmoreland more than
Another Bundle of Letters. 217
half the rate of two hundrd or three hundred a year at the most, till
I came thither m5reelf."
Marsh was evidently not keen on the series of lawsuits she was
starting concerning her lands. He was not on the spot, and did not
understand her position, nor did he quite realise that he had to do
with a mistress who was most tenacious of her rights, and was deter-
mined to lose none of them, even though, as in some instances, it
cost her as much to obtain these rights as they themselves were in
value. He had expostulated with her, and in reply she says, " you
cut my heart with unldndness, when you do in a maimer, in your
letter, hit me in the teeth with my suits-in-law, which is not to be
avoided by me, except I would let the rights belonging to me in
Craven and Westmoreland be utterly ruined to me and my posterity.
Believe me, Gilbert Crock, the attorney or solicitor, proved a very
slippery or dishonest part in my business." She refers then to some
pa,rticular tenant who had not been paid all the arrears that she owed
to him, apparently one of her tenants in the Isle of Sheppey, and she
says " If Mr. Jenkins be not paid all the arrears I owe to him, I shall
take it very ill from you."
With respect to the Under-sheriffwick of Westmoreland, there had
already been some differences of opinion. She says that Marsh had
sent her a letter from Mr. Dodsworth, wherein he had told her that
her cousin Richard Lowther had taken a wrong course about the
deed of attorney appointing the under-sheriff of Westmoreland.
Richard Lowther agreed with Dodsworth's opinion, and came to the
conclusion that there must be an alteration in the deed. " I know
not," she says, " what to think of it, except you set it right. I have
now written to them both in this matter," and there "it must be
left."
On the 7th of October, 1650, she wrote to Marsh from Skipton,
again by the hand of her amanuensis, to acknowledge the receipt of
a trunk which had been brought to her " safe and well," and which
contained a fur cloak, and also all the silver plate which her husband
had bequeathed to her, together with various other things which she
was exceedingly glad to receive safely. Marsh was on the point of
going down into Sussex to see about her jointure lands, and she advises
him very strongly to go and consult Sir Thomas Widdrington and
2i8 Lady Anne.
Mr. Howell, " to confer with them both about my business before
your going into Sussex, so you set things concerning my business in
some order with them." She announces that in ten days' time, she
intends to send her steward and her deputy sheriff, Clapham and
Gabetis ; up to London, to see to the Chancery matter which was
going forward concerning the tenants in Westmoreland. She says
that they were treating her as imkindly as ever, and yet giving out
that they had a desire to agree with her, therefore " God be my helper
in it," she adds. She tells Marsh that, in aU probability, by the time
he returns from Sussex, he will find Gabetis Eind Clapham in town.
To this letter, she adds a brief postscript in her own handwriting,
which appears to relate to the diamond buttons to which she had
referred before. " If it be possible," says she, " between you and
Jack Turner, let me have the buttons, and the five rubies bought for
me.
The next letter is dated from the same place, and on the very same
date. She had evidently just received a letter from Marsh, apparently
of a somewhat learned character. " I think," sa}^ she, " neither you
nor any man else ever writ a wiser letter, which I have not now time
to answer, because the messenger stays that carries them to the post,
but I will often remember your sayings out of Antonius and out of
Seneca. I perceive," she adds, " your wife is so sickly that you are
not likely to go this winter to Canonbury. I pray God direct her and
you in all your purposes."
Money was rather scarce at the time she was writing, for she
goes on to say that she desires Marsh to pay to Lord Northampton
what money he can spare out of her rents, but not to take the sum
that was due to himself, " for if you can forbear," says she, " the
receiving of your own, for which you know yourself and wife and
daughter have good security ; then I shall be made, and you may do
my Lord Northampton a great pleasure, and my other business will
be weU done."
He had a hundred pounds in gold which he had received of rents,
and that he was going to send down to her, but she says, " Upon better
consideration, I had rather it were paid to my Lord of Northampton
than sent down to me." In the next sentence we learn that somebody
(and of the female sex), was striving to do her some harm. It may
Another Bundle of Letters. 219
possibly be that Lady Cecilia Compton was not acting fairly towards
her, but we are not told who the person was. " Concerning the
scheming lady," she says, " I have had more experience of late of her
craft and subtlety than ever heretofore, and therefore be confident
I will look well to myself." Again, she adds a postscript in her own
writing to the following effect, " If my Lord Tufton happen to be
hard up, pay him the five pounds or more. I would to God he would
come hither to me for some three or four months."
Then, in about a fortnight, she wrote again to Marsh also from
SMpton, and by the hand of her amanuensis. Marsh was at Lewes, and
she had received a letter from him, dated from that place, " whereby
I understand you have for the present allayed the storm of the sheriffs
and bailiffs about the Court of Wards business, which I am heartily
glad of. I beseech God that we may get weU off in the conclusion,
for you and I know full well that every penny was duly paid into the
Court of Wards for the wardship of both my daughters. You have
played the wise man in this business very much. I caimot as yet
find any quittances concerning it, but if I do, you shall have them
sent up, and my desire to you is, that you should not grieve yourself
too much with regard to my business, for what cannot be avoided
I must of necessity submit unto, though it be for part, or all, of that
five hundred pounds." She then goes on to say how glad she is to
hear that " Lord Tufton has gained the love of so many (now in his
disasters) as you write of. If he be in London," says she, " when you
return out of Sussex, give him twenty pounds from me, and I will
allow it unto you in your accounts." Furthermore she wishes Marsh
to ask Lord Tufton to come down and see her. " I shall be very glad
to have him here for two or three months, tiU the anger of his father
be overpast." There was a Mr. WaUey (or Wallop) who was a friend
of Lord Thanet's, and she asks Marsh if he was still with Lord Thanet.
She hopes very much that he was, because, says she, " he was a good
friend to my Lord Tufton." She had already instructed Marsh to pay
Mr. Howell a considerable sum of money, and was very anxious that
he should have it quickly. " I pray you, fail not to give to Mr. Howell
to the full what I formerly appointed you, for he doth deserve that
and a great deal more, as is evident by his replication to the tenants '
answer which he hath sent for my approbation, wherein he hath
220 Lady Anne.
expressed much of his wisdom and goodness towards me and my
business." She also gives instructions for the pa3niient of 20s. to a
Mr. Coppleston, who was her cousin, and once again adds a postscript
in her own handwriting, " If my business against my tenants in
Westmoreland stand not well this term, they will be more insulting
than ever."
By 1653, which is the date of the last letter from Lady Anne in
the bundle, George Sedgwick was firmly fixed in the saddle and
carried on her correspondence. This letter is a curious one, because
the first part is written by Sedgwick, and then Lady Anne adds a
postscript. Below that, Sedgwick adds a second postscript, and then
lower down still. Lady Anne put a third. The letter, which is dated
the 3rd November, 1653, complains to Mr. Marsh that she has not
heard from him, " which doth a httle trouble me," says she, " but I
have this week received a letter from Mr. Howell," in which he teUs
her that he had heard "from Marsh." Apparently Marsh was down
in Sussex, attending to matters concerning the jointure and Sackville
College, to which I refer later on. Then comes Lady Anne's first
postscript in her own handwriting. " I pray you, when you come
to London, fail not to help Mrs. Whitting the widow all you can in
her business with my Lord of Northampton, which I think you are
bound to do in conscience, because you got her to lend it to his Lord-
ship's father." Sedgwick adds, " You must be sure that between
you and Jack Turner Mr. Walley may be paid what is due to himself."
and then Lady Anne writes again, " I hope you fail not, by as soon as
you come to London, to pay Mrs. Taylor, Richard Garrett and others
that you know should have it from me, and especially that for my
godson, to Sir Ch. Har:." '
The only other letter of consequence in the bundle is not from Lady
Anne, but from HoweU her lawyer, and was sent down to her at
Brougham, by the hand of a Mr. Fawcett of Kendal. She has endorsed
it to the effect that it was concerning certain claims that were to be
made, and that it relates to the loss or miscarriage of the records of
the last assizes. She had evidently written to him a letter complaining
of the slow progress of her affairs. " I find how sensible," Howell
' Perhaps Sit Christopher Haifieet of Kent, knighted May 21st, 1619 at Greenwich.
Another Bundle of Letters. 2i2i
says " you are of the slow progress in your lawsuits, and of the burden-
some charge and correspondence thereto. Truly, Madam," he adds
" no man can be more deeply affected with your complaint than
myself, heartily wishing it in my power to give you redress. It is too
too much," says he, " that your Honour should condescend to conjure
me (your poor servant) by the remembrance of long acquaintance
and friendship (words of great attraction and such as I am unworthy
to repeat) to expedite your troubles. How can a free and willing
heart stand in need of such incitements, or an ingenuous spirit bear
the sting thereof. I must bewail," he adds, " my unhappiness in
silence, as one whose power is less than his will, and his heart more
full than his pen. Be pleased to vouchsafe me one word for all, and
deal with me and mine according to the clearness of my mind, and as
I have done and endeavoured, and shall do and endeavour, in your
Honour's affairs, which endeavours I pray may be acceptable, as they
are sincere."
It is clear from aU this that she had a good and painstaking lawyer ^
fit her disposal, and one who was anxious to push forward her legal
matters, but that, as usual, there were in the progress of these suits,
innumerable delays. Of one of the persons whom he was opposing,
he says in quite modern phraseology, " He made use of all the delays
that could be found out, which hath made the suit long and chargeable."
There was some reason at this stage of the dispute, for Lady Anne to
be more than ever definite with respect to some of the lands in York-
shire upon which she had not yet made entries. He says " I find your
Honour desirous to be advised touching claims to the lands in York-
shire that were leased out by your uncle (or cousin) of Cumberland.
As for that, I presume you have already made entries (i.e. entrance)
in the several farms, or, if that hath been done but in some of them ;
it may be done when you please in the rest, for, as to those lands,"
he adds, " you are not concluded by not claiming within five years,
neither is there any need of such claims in relation to the death of the
Earl of Pembroke or otherwise, and therefore those that do inform
your Honour that claims are necessary in this case are much mistaken.
When entries are made, the possession is to be demanded of the
tenants, and if they refuse to deliver it, your course is by way of
' Later on be was Sir John and Deputy Recorder for the City.
222 Lady Anne.
ejectment to avoid their leases and to put them out of possession, or
else there may be occasions of trespass brought for the damages
done after such entries, according to former directions given by me
and others of your Council in matters of the same nature." I refer
to these claims lower down, but Mr. HoweU's statement concerning
the law of the day is very clear. The difficulty was with respect of
the leases for two or three lives, subject to fines ® which the two last
Earls of Cumberland had granted, when they raised the money to
pay Lord Dorset.
Howell then goes on to tell her of one unfortunate circumstance con-
nected with the last assizes in Westmoreland, in which her affairs had
been considered. " All the papers were lost in coming up to London, as
yet there are no tidings of them, and what course wiU or can be taken
to make them good, is not yet considered of. I am afraid," says he,
" there can be no help unless they can be found again, such a misfor-
tune as this none could foresee nor prevent, but every party concerned
must sit down with patience and damage." The last reference in the
letter is to the suit which Howell was taking concerning the London
property, Clifford's Inn. He says that attendance was being given
at the Committee of Indemnity, then sitting at Worcester House
concerning it, " but what course the Committee will steer, we know
not yet. Prescription is likely to be your best title, we shall understand
more shortly of their intentions." He apologises for the trouble he
gives her, but tells her that he is directing Mr. Clapham in everything,
and presents his own and his wife's most hiunble acknowledgments to
her. The letter was one of special importance, on account of the
legal information it conveyed, and was therefore carefully preserved.
With it at SMpton was the copy of a case which had been stated,
probably for the opinion of counsel concerning the award, and the
steps being then taken respecting the lands let out on leases. It
is not actually dated, but it appears to have been completed on the
1st December, 1653. It refers in the preamble to the suits and
controversies that there were at one time depending, to the fact that
Francis, Lord Cumberland, and Henry, Lord Clifford, together with
Lord Dorset, submitted themselves to the King, to the award made
' Leases subject to fines for renewal upon the death of the Lord or the death of the Tenant
are still the custom on the Clifford copyhold estates belonging to Lord Hothfield.
Another Bundle of Letters. 223
by King James on the 14th of March in the 14th year of his reign,
under the Great Seal, and to the sum of money, twenty thousand
pounds in all, which Lord Cumberland was to raise on the estates, and
to pay to the Earl of Dorset for the right to hold the land. It then
goes on to state, in a somewhat complex legal sentence, that Lord
Dorset had tied up certain lands as security until he had actually
received the money of twenty thousand pounds from Lord Cumberland,
and to this Lady Anne makes shrewd comment, " If I had put my
uncle of Cumberland in suit for this clause it may be, might have
proved something; but neither I, nor any for me, having conceived
to put him to suit after the award was made, this clause is of no effect ! ! "
At the end of the elaborate clause, she makes a footnote to the same
effect, " I did never commence suit against my uncle of Cumberland,
so £is this clause cannot be judicial to the Earl of Dorset." Further
on, for a third time she refers to the matter in a note. " The suits
which I commenced were against my Westmoreland tenants, and not
my uncle of Cumberland nor his son." Then, finally, when the
document states that on the ist of December, 1653, notice was made
at Dorset House of certain suits commenced against the tenants,
which suits apparently the tenants resented, she adds " I believe he
was a person given to conciliation, and he left such notices at Dorset
House, striving thereby to set us together by the ears without any
just occasion." The " he " referred to in her words could not have
been either of the two last earls, for they were both dead, but must
have been some person who was interposing, striving to upset the
award. We are inclined to believe from careful perusal of the docu-
ment that it was Lord Cork who, on behalf of his wife, was making
some claims to upset the judicial arrangement concerning part of the
property, probably that of Barden Tower.
The only other paper to which I need refer in this chapter, was
discovered with the documents already mentioned, and bears the
date January 3rd, 1655. It lays down, in very decisive fashion, the
rules which her council, under its chairman, Sir Henry Cholmeley,
prescribed for the granting of leases in future in the Craven estates.
It states that the leases were to be made for three lives, for which
the tenant is not to pay any fine, but " my Lady wiU expect after
the rate of eight per cent, by way of increase of rent, the fine last
224 Lady Anne.
given to be considered of, and the rent to be proportioned or set
down after that rate." This was as regards purchased lands. As
regards leasehold, the same course was allowed "to be held with those
tenants that held by lease, the term excepted, which is to be for
twenty-one years."
This document was signed in two places by Lady Anne, and also
bears her seals. It is a beautifully written paper, the signatures are
bold and strong, and, inasmuch as some portion of these rules still
continues in force in the Craven estate, the doucment so recently
found has been framed, in order that it may be preserved by the
present holders of the property and by their successors.
One of Lady Anne's Council of Commissioners, Mr. Charles Fairfax,
was uncle to the celebrated Lord Fairfax, and there are, in the Fairfax
correspondence, several letters from him to his uncle, which have
reference to Lady Anne. He acted, it is clear, in some professional
respect for her at Skipton, with regard to the estates, and says that
at one time he spent seven weeks in the castle, without any cessation
of duty, trying to settle questions between her and her teucints.
He explains to Lord Fairfax that he had hoped that the matter would
have been a simple one, by reason of the award which the King had
made, but was quickly given to understand by Lady Anne that she
" had never consented to that award, nor would be bound by it in
any way, and demands the whole of the estate." These demands
included the Barden Tower property, which at the same time. Lady
Cork was claiming, and she and her husband were also in correspondence
with Mr. Fairfax respecting it. In a further letter, he refers to the
fact that the tenants were making vehement protestations concerning
their rent : he adds, with reference to Lady Anne, that she was a
most noble lady, and will " deal honourably with such persons whose
estates depend upon the award, if they have the good manners to
acknowledge it her bounty." These words give the key to a good
deal of Lady Anne's instructions. Provided her rights were acknow-
ledged, and fully acknowledged, she was willing to be on easy terms
with her tenants, but if they dechned to acknowledge her rights, they
might speedily look for trouble.
On the 3rd November, 1646, there is a letter to Mr. Charles Fairfax
in which she refers to certain drawings that had been made by a
Another Bundle of Letters. 225
Mr. Waterton, and which were of SMpton Castle and Barden Tower.
They appear to have been plans or sketches of the estates, and Lady
Anne was anxious to have them. She says that he was to pay what-
ever he thinks fit for them, and in a postscript to the letter, acknow-
ledges that they have at length reached her, and begs him to settle
with the surveyor, and give him whatever he considered was the
right amount for them.
All these letters are, as a rule, addressed " to my assured friend,
Mr. Christopher Marsh," but in one or two instances, the phraseology
differs slightly, and the address is "To my assured good friend."
Sometimes they were sent to Ba5mard's Castle, and sometimes to
Chenies. One or two of them were addressed, " To Mr. William
Russell's house at Southover near Lewes in Sussex," and to this
address there is sometimes added " or else wherever he is," while on
other occasions a second address, " Baynard's Castle in London," is
added to the first. When the letter is to be sent to Baynard's Castle,
it was to be " C/o Mr. WiUiam Edge," who was evidently in per-
manent residence there. The letters are all carefuUy sealed, but differ
from those referred to in a previous chapter in the fact that the seal
is invariably one with the CHfford crest. In one or two instances, the
crest is used alone, rising out of its crest coronet, but in other cases
is surmounted by an earl's coronet. Some of the letters have endorsed
upon them notes by Mr. Marsh, giving the date when they were
received, and comments to the effect that he had carried out the
instructions of the writer, or references to the pa57ment of certain
sums of money which Lady Anne had authorised him to make.
They were evidently written with the desire to use up every scrap of
the paper, and Lady Anne was given to certain eccentricities in her
correspondence, adding postscripts not only at the bottoms of the
letters, but frequently at the sides also, and in some instances at the
top or at the comers.
226
CHAPTER XIII.
LADY ANNE'S GUESTS.
A CONSIDERABLE part of the narrative contained in Lady
Anne's diary is devoted to her various journeys from one
castle to another, describing the methods by which she journeyed
whether in her coach or in her horse-litter, and frequently explaining
the route along which she travelled. These allusions are so frequent
that it would be wearisome to refer to them all. A great part of her
time was spent in these journeys, and during her life in the north
she visited all her castles in turn, making prolonged stays in each.
She was very hospitable, especially to her own children and grand-
children, whom she delighted to have about her. They visited her
many times, coming to each of her places of residence in turn, and she
describes so carefully, on every occasion, when they came, how long
they remained, and when they left, that it is possible to make up a sort
of diary of the movements of her own children and grandchildren
from these records. Her favourite grandchild was, as I have said,
John Tufton, and he was more often with her than was any other
member of the family. In 1652 she alludes to his coming down to
stay with her, and then, in the following year, in March, to his leaving
Appleby for York, thence journeying on to London, and so to Hothficld
in Kent, to see his father and mother, brothers and sisters, on his way
to Eton. He does not appear to have remained at Eton very long,
because in the following year she says that he came from Eton,
" from studying there, to Skipton to mee for a little while," and then
he went back from Skipton to Oxford, where she says he was to settle
down in Queen's College to live in that University as a student. In
1656, we hear of his leaving Oxford. " He went quite away from
living as a student there, up towards London to his father," who
Lady Anne's Guests. 227
was then residing at the family house in Aldersgate Street, and on
the 14th of June following he left England for a while to travel
in the Low countries with George Sedgwick, his grandmother's
secretary, " whom," says she, " I had appointed to bee his Governor,"
and then she describes his journey into Holland and the provinces,
and his return in the beginning of 1657, most of the time having been
spent, she tells us, in the city of Utrecht. The actual reason for the
journey to Holland was because John Tufton's sister, Lady Frances,
had been suffering from rickets, and had been sent in 1655 " from her
father and mother, from their house in Aldersgate in London, over
sea into Utrecht in Holland to be cured of the Ricketts, which she had
in great extremitie." Her brother fetched her, and they came back
in a Dutch man-of-war, out of the " Low countreis, with my grand-
chyld the Ladie Frances Tufton his sister, and her Woman, and others
in their Companie," and then he came down with George Sedgwick,
her secretary, to see his grandmother at Skipton, leaving his sister in
London.
Not only had Lady Anne sent Sedgwick with her grandson as his
tutor, but she had also provided his personal servant, Alexander
Whitcher, who also came back with him to Skipton, and entered again,
she says, into her employ. John Tufton remained with her at Skipton
for some time, and then journeyed in her company to Appleby, whither
she went in October, and where she remained until April, 1658.
Then she left for Brougham, but before doing so, sent her " grandchyld
with his two men " to Croome House in Worcestershire, to see " his
sister Coventry, and her husband and children." There he remained
for a few days, and then came back to Appleby, when she sent
him off on a further excursion, and tells us that he went to Lancashire,
Preston, Manchester, Chester, Flint Castle, Denbigh, and other parts
of North Wales, and came back aga'n to Warwick, Coventry, and
Lichfield, the first time that he had ever been in any of those places,
and able to gratify his desire to travel by doing so at his grandmother's
expense, and in comfortable fashion. By June he was back at Appleby
to see her, but then she sent him off for a night to Corby Castle in
Cumberland, the residence of her cousin Sir Francis Howard, where
he stayed a while and returned again to her. By that time she
bad reached Brougham. He appears to have arrived on the 24tb of
228 Lady Anne.
June, and the same night she took her leave of him, he continuing
on his journey towards London, where he remained till August, and
then went once again with his sister, whose cure was apparently not
quite complete, into the Low countries for a couple of months,
returning to London " by shipping at the Briol in HoUande " in
October, and coming straight down to see her. On this occasion,
he brought his sister with him, the first time that Lady Anne had
ever seen this grandchild, either in Craven, or " in any of the lands of
mine inheritance." Whitcher, who was with him on his first visit
to Utrecht, had died meantime, and she tells us that the name of his
new servant was Henry Hatfield, " that now serves my grandchilde in
Alexander Whitcher's place lately deceased," and with his sister
" came her gentlewoman, Mrs. Sibilla Baker, that had bin abroad
with her in the Low Countries."
Lady Anne had by that time come into Yorkshire, and was at
Skipton, and she kept her two grandchildren with her from May until
September, when they left with their servants in her coach and
six horses, as far as York, where they stayed for a night, and engaging
a hired coach, went on to London for a few days, and then Lady
Frances went down to her sister. Lady Margaret Coventry, to Croome
to stay for awhile.
A rather longer interval then ensued, but in 1663, John Tufton
came back to see her. She was at Barden Tower, and he came " hither
into this Barden Tower to me, where I now kissed him with much
joy before supper, and he now told me how he set forward on his
joumie from London hitherward, from his Mother and two of his
Sisters, Lady Frances and Lady Cecily," who came up with him from
Hothfield to London, and then " returned back again." She put
him in the " best Roome in this Barden Tower, at the end of the
Great Chamber, where my daughter of Northampton lay when she
was last here," and his servant, who was not the one who had been
with him on the previous occasion, but a man named John Goteley,
" who is newly come to him," slept in the room " within it." Ic was
the first time that any of Lady Thanet's children had slept at Barden
Tower, and Lady Anne carefully records the fact. She also adds an
expression of her joy in receiving him, " for this Grandchild of mine
was the more welcome to mee in regard he had escaped death verie
Lady Anne's Guests. 229
narrowlie by a dangerous sickness he had in ffrance the last yeare
which causes mee to have in a thankful remembrance God's great
mercies to mee and mine." He remained nearly two months with
her, and then went to Pendragon, " this being the first time that
either he, or anie grandchild of myne ever lay in that Castle, which
was lately repaired by me." He journeyed on to Appleby, and was
there for two nights, and the next day to Brough where he lay one
night, " this being also the first time that he, or anie grandchyld of
mine, lay in that Brough Castle, for I repaired it but lately." He was
there for only a day or two, and then passed through WhinfeU Park
to Brougham Castle, where he lay for one night. He visited Lowther
Hall, Avon bank,^ and other places, attended the horse race on
Langanby * Moor, and returned to his grandmother, reaching her
on the 29th of the month. With her he went to Skipton, where
he remained for some time, and then she records " on the 7th of
September did my grandchild, Mr. John Tufton, ride away from this
Skipton Castle, from me and us here, with his man John Goteley,
towards London, and so into Kent."
He did not return to her until after his father's death, on the 8th of
July, 1664, and she says she received him, " to my great joy and
comfort, I not having seen him since the death of his father, my
son-in-law, John, Earl of Thanet." En route from London to Appleby,
where his grandmother then was, he had rested at Skipton, sleeping
for two nights in " the highest chamber in the Round Tower at Skipton,
over the chamber at the end of the Long GaUery there, wherein I
formerly used to lie," the third night he had spent at the inn at Kirkby
Lonsdale, and finally, came on to Appleby, where he stayed with his
grandmother for a month, and afterwards, meeting his mother and
three younger sisters there, the whole party went on for a while to
Brougham, returning again to Appleby, and after a short sojourn
there, went back to London.
It was not until 1669 that John came to the north again, this
time with his brother, Richard, who had not been to see his grand-
^ Usually called Acorn Bank or Akron Bank the home of his cousins, the Dalstons.
" Langwathby Moor, a famous place for horse racing. It is s miles east of Penrith. There
is an important reference to the sport here in Edmund Sandford's Cursary Relation, 1675,
quoted by Mr. D. Scott in a lecture he gave on the subject of local sports.
230 Lady Anne.
mother for six years, as he had not been in Westmoreland since his
father's death. On this occasion they came from a house called
Great Chart, and had journeyed over Stainmore and by Brough to
Appleby, where she put them in the green chamber, " which is under
the Withdrawing-Roome " and there they remained for seven nights.
Meantime, her cousin and godson, Edward RusseU, the third son to
the Earl of Bedford, had also arrived at Appleby in his journey from
Wobum. It was the first time that he had ever been in any part of
her inheritance, or so far north, and she put him to sleep in the Baron's
Chamber, and, when John and his brother arrived, sent them all
away to visit her other castles. They went to Brougham, to Brough,
and to Pendragon, and to some other remarkable houses and places
in the county, and returned afterwards to London, leaving their cousin,
Edward RusseU, in the north, as he was going to remain a little longer
with Lady Anne.
I must not, however, confine my attention to this single member
of the family. His father and mother, together with his elder brother,
Nicholas, paid their first visit to Lady Anne in 1653. They arrived
on the 1st September, coming from London over Stainmore to Appleby
Castle, where they continued to lie for eleven nights " my daughter
and her Lord in the Chamber under the Withdrawing-room, and
my Lord Tufton in the Baron's Chamber," this being, as Lady
Anne records, " the first time that this first child of mine or her Lord,
or any of mj' owne children, came to me into Westmoreland or into
any part of the lands of mine inheritance, except," as she expressly
records, the second son, John, to whom we have already alluded.
She had, however, carried on an agreeable correspondence with her
elder grandson two years before. Young Lord Tufton had got into
some trouble with his father, who desired him to marry and settle
down. He, on the contrary, wished to travel abroad before he married,
and had heard of an officer, a person whom he calls " a noble gentle-
man," " a gentleman of the King's Artillery," who was going to France
and Spain, and who was willing to take him in his company and show
him something of both countries. He had pressed his father to make
him a suitable allowance, but Lord Thanet appears to have declined,
and therefore he wrote to his grandmother on May 28th, 1651, con-
cerning his trouble. He told her that if he could only get two hundred
Lady Anne's Guests. 231
a year from his father, it would amply suffice, and he impressed upon
his grandmother how earnest was his desire to see something of the
world before he settled down. If only he might go abroad, he said,
then on his return he might marry, but he declined to do so at present.
If his father would only let him " go to France or Spain," when he
came back, he says, " I would be contented that his Lordship married
me to whom he pleases." He begs his grandmother to intercede with
his father, or to do something herself for him. She endorses the
letter to the effect that she answered it "as he would," and as we
learn that almost immediately afterwards he went abroad, it is pretty
clear that the old lady came to the rescue and advanced some money
in order that he might gratify his desire.
In 1656, Lady Thanet was again in the North, this time with her
four younger children, Cecily, George, Mary and Anne, and their
visit on this occasion was to Brougham. It was the first time that
Lady Anne had seen three of the children, and it was also the first
time that Lady Cecily had been in the North, although, says her
grandmother, " I had seen her before at London, and in Baynard's
Castle, and in her father's house at Aldersgate Street." She was
always particular they should have some pleasure, and pay some
visits while they were with her, and so she sent two of the children,
Cecily and George, for a while in her coach to Edenhall in Cumber-
land, and then to Lowther Hall, and after that, they returned again
to her and then home to Hothfield. In 1658, her daughter paid another
visit, this time accompanied by the three younger sons, Richard,
Thomas, and Sackville, " this being the first time I ever saw these
three sonnes of hers, here in Westmoreland or in any part of the lands
of myne inheritance, and so now," she says, she has seen nine of her
daughter's children here in Westmoreland, " which I accounte as a
greate and singular Blessinge and goodnesse of God towards me."
She describes how long they stayed with her, and says that they went
back over Stainmore towards London to Aldersgate Street, and a
day afterwards they journeyed on to Raynham for a night, and then
eventually reached Hothfield in safety.
The eldest grandchild had meantime been concerned in a plot
against the Commonwealth, and on the suspicion that this was the
case, had been sent a prisoner to the Tower of London by the
232 Lady Anne.
command of the Lord Protector and his Council, and was kept
there for nine months and four days. He was then set free, and
returned to his father and mother, but on the nth of September was
again committed to the Tower, where he lay under restraint tiU the
25th of June, 1658, when he was released a second time. These two
imprisonments had caused serious injury to his health, and in 1659
Lady Anne records the fact that he went down to the Wells at Epsom
to take the waters, and thence went over secretly into France, where
he stayed for some few months. The rising of 1655, in which he was
concerned, was a plot arranged with Colonel Penruddock^ and Sir
Joseph Wagstaffe,* in conjunction with two hundred persons who
were Royalists, and the intention, which was carried out, was to seize
the Judges of the Western Circuit — Rolle ^ and Nicholas ^ — at Salis-
bury, and give the signal for a general rising. There seemed every
chance of success, and Charles II. left Cologne for Flushing in order
to be close at hand, sending over Lord Rochester as his representative
in order that he might advise the King when it was safe for him to
appear. The time was not, however, quite ripe for the Restoration.
The plot was a failure, and as a result. Lord Tufton found himself
twice in the Tower, and then had to make his way, as we have just
seen, secretly to France.
In 1650, three of his younger brothers, John, Richard and Thomas,
followed his example. They left in the packet boat from Dover to
Calais, thence went on to Paris, to Orleans and to Blois, where they
intended to hve for a time. It was the first time that Richard and
Thomas had ever been beyond the seas, but as their grandmother
records, their brother John had been twice before this into the Low
Countries, though never in France before. They stayed abroad all
the winter and came back again in March, 1663.
In that very year Lady Thanet, with her four younger sons, and her
daughter Lady Frances, paid their first visit to Skipton. " They
came hither " says Lady Anne, " into Skipton Castle to me about eight
3 John Penruddock, 1619-1655, beheaded by the Protector for high treason.
* Sir Joseph Wagstaffe bom circa 16 12, died after 1602, escaped into Holland and survived
the Restoration.
= Henry Rolle, Justice of King's Bench, appomted by the Commonwealth, 1648, Lord Chief
Justice.
' Robert Nicholas, Baron of the Exchequer and Judge of the " Upper Bench."
Lady Anne's Guests. 233
o'clock at night into the chamber where I then lay, and wherein I was
born into the world, and I then kissed them all with much Joy and
comfort, it being the first time that I saw my Daughter of Thanet,
or these four younger Sonnes of hers in Skipton Castle, or in Craven,
for it was the first time that they had ever come into Craven." She
put Lady Thanet and Lady Frances into the two best rooms in the
chief round tower " in the old building in Skipton Castle, lately repaired
by me," two of the other sons, Sackville and George, in the upper,
great round room at the end of the gallery, Thomas in the round
room below, " where I formerUe used to lye myself," and Richard,,
with his brother John, who was already at the Castle, in the great
room over the gatehouse, except that lor one night, they had to sleep
in the Withdrawing-room, next the gaUery, possibly because the other
rooms were not quite ready. She had sent John as far as York in
her coach to meet his mother and his four brothers and sisters, and
he had brought them on their way to the Castle.
In 1664, she records the marriage of the eldest son, Nicholas, " mar-
ried in a chamber in Clifford's Inn in London Town to Lady Elizabeth
Boyle," whom she calls her " cousin and god-daughter." The marriage
was solemnised by Mr. Byfield, chaplain to her father, and the happy
couple began first of all to five in that house at Whitefriars in London
" which was once part of the Priory there," where Lady Elizabeth's
father and mother and most of the family then were. Less than a
month after that Lord Thanet died " in his house called Thanet
House, in those lodgings that look towards the street, which he about
twenty years since built with freestone very magnificently," and she
records the fact that his wife and their sons and daughters were all
there on the occasion of his decease. His body was carried out of the
house at Aldersgate Street, over London Bridge, and down into the
country, into the church at Raynham in Kent when it was buried in
the presence of most of the family, but it is expressly recorded that the
eldest son was not able to be there. Soon afterwards the new Earl and
his wife went down to see the old lady. ' ' They came into my chamber, ' '
says she, " in this Appleby Castle, about seven o'clock in the evening,
where I kissed them both with much joy and comfort, it being the
first time that I saw any Grandchild of mine that was an Earle."
It was also the first time, she says, that the newly married wife had
234 Lady Anne.
come into Westmoreland, and she had not seen her since she was a
child, with Lord and Lady Cork and her brothers and sisters when
Lady Anne came down to Craven in 1650. On their way to see her,
they had been to Londesborough and to Topcliff, and thence had
journeyed to Appleby by way of Stainmore, lying one night in what
she calls the " poor inn " at Bowes. On their way they had stopped
for a while at Brough to see the Castle, and then reached Appleby.
They slept in the Baron's Chamber, and while they stayed with Lady
Anne, made various excursions. They went, says she, to Brougham, to
Edenhall, to Lowther, and to Acorn Bank, and then on the 9th August
" after I had Idssed them in my chamber in Appleby Castle, did this
Earl of Thanet and the Countess his wife, with their company, go
away again from hence out of Westmoreland, over Stainmoore, into
the inn at Catterick Bridge, towards York and Londesborough."
She sent John Tufton part of the way with them. He was to take
his brother and sister onwards upon their journey as far cis Brough,
and then to return to her, and Lord and Lady Thanet met Lord Cork
and his wife at York, and journeyed with them to Londesborough,
and then back to London.
A few days after they had left, her daughter Margaret came to
see her, this time as Coimtess Dowager of Thanet, bringing with her
the three yoimgest daughters and their servants. John Tufton was
sent to meet and welcome them, and he escorted them all to Appleby,
" where I now kissed them " says Lady Anne, " with much joy and
comfort, it being the first time I saw this Daughter of mine or any of
her Daughters since She was a widowe." She put them in to the
Baron's Chamber, but after they had remained there for four days
she had to send them all away with John Tufton to Brougham, because
it was the time of the Assizes, and she had to receive the judges at
Appleby. Nothing was ever allowed to stand in the way of a full and
important reception for the judges, and even though her elder
daughter was with her at the time, she and her family had to give
place to the representatives of the King. They all therefore left for
Brougham, Lady Thanet and her younger daughter occupying Lady
Anne's own chamber " wherein " of course she adds, " my Noble
ffather was borne and my Blessed mother dyed, the first time that
she or any of her Children ever lay in that chamber," Lady Cecily
Lady Anne's Guests. 235
and Lady Marie in " the middle chamber of the Great Tower," and
John in " the Baron's Chamber there." Lady Thanet had not been at
Brougham since 1658, nor the three younger daughters since 1656,
and it was the first time that any of them had been in the castle
when their grandmother was not there herself. After the Judges
had left they came back again, except John, who was then to start
for London, but the rest of the party remained with the old lady at
Appleby for some days longer, and then " after I had first kissed
them, as taking my leave of them, they went away from me out of
this Appleby Castle, towards eight o'clock in the morning, onwards
on their Joumie towards London," and she records with great satis-
faction the fact that they safely reached their journey's end.
About this time Lady Thanet took possession of her jointure house,
Bollbrooke, and her mother carefully records the fact that her daughter,
with her three younger children, went down to a hired house at Epsom,
where they drank the waters, and from thence removed to Bollbrooke,
" her house of inheritance by her father," where, says she, " they
now continued to lye." It would appear that Lady Thanet had not
been to that house since the early days of her marriage, her eldest
child having been born there.
Meantime, two of the younger sons, Sackville and George, went
abroad for a while. They " did imbarque themselves at Dover in
Kent," the old lady says, " and sayled over the Seas into France,
whither they came safe and well to Paris within a while after, this
being," she adds, " the first time these two Grandchildren of mine
were ever beyond the seas, or out of England." Sir Thomas Bill-
ingsley ' who had been " in the employment of Lord Dorset," went
with them, as their Governor. After a short sojourn in Paris, they
left for Sedan, and then in the following year she records the fact
that they had gone on from Sedan into Upper Germany, to the Prince
Elector Palatine's Court at Heidelberg, stating that the reason of
this their " so sodaine departure out of France into Germany " was
because of the wars " that are now between England and France."
It would appear to be likely that they had intended to stay in France
for a much longer period, and they were perhaps studying the French
language.
' (?) Sir Henry Billingsley or else a Mr, BilUngsly given the title o{ Sir by courtesy or in error.
236 Lady Anne.
The second daughter, who had been more than once to see her
grandmother, was in 1665 married in the chapel in Thanet House,
by Lord Thanet's chaplain, Mr. Hind, to Mr. Henry Drax. This
was the daughter who, in the earlier stages of her life, had suffered
from rickets. After the wedding, they went into her husband's
house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and later on, into the country, as it
was then called ; to their own house at Hackney, three or four miles
from London, but in November following, Lady Frances died in
childbirth, to her grandmother's great grief, at Buckwell in Kent,
and as the baby also died, they were buried together at Ra3aiham
Church.
On the next occasion Lady Thanet came down to see her mother,
which was in 1666, the grandmother referred to the fact that Lady
Frances had died in the interval, and there were only left the three
daughters, Cecily, Mary and Anne. She carefully tells us that Lady
Thanet and her daughter Cecily were put in the middle round room
at the end of the gallery at Skipton, " where formerly I used to lye
myself," and that Lady Mary and Lady Anne were put in the room
above, and that it was the first time that either Lady Thanet or these
three girls had slept in the Round Tower, in the room which their
sister. Lady Frances, had occupied when she was staying with her
grandmother. This was the second time Lady Thanet had been to
Skipton, but the seventh time she had been to the North to see her
mother. The three yoimger girls had never been to Skipton before,
although they had been to Brougham and to Appleby, and their
grandmother was very desirous that they should see something of
the neighbourhood, so, a few days after their arrival, " These three
young Ladies, my Grandchildren, with their three Women, Mrs. Jane
Paulett, Mrs. Bridget BUHngsley ^ and Katherine Preston," went in
their mother's coach with six horses out of Skipton away to Barden,
where they dined. Thence she sent them to Mr. Clapham's house
at Beamsley, where they stayed for a while, and visited the Beamsley
Almshouses, founded by her " Blessed mother," and afterwards they
returned to Skipton, a Uttle before supper that night, " this being "
sa57s she, " the first time that any of my said three grandchildren
' Perhaps wife of " Sir " Thomas BUIlngsley mentioned before.
Lady Anne's Guests. 237
were ever in Barden Tower, Beamsley Hall, or the Almshouses."
Shortly after that, the whole party had to return to BoUbrooke.
The next visit of the family was one from the new Countess in 1667
and Lord Thanet came up from Hothfield to Gravesend, thence by
water in a barge to London, and sent his wife on from London to
Londesborough to her mother, then from Londesborough to York,
and from York to Barden Tower, " where shee and her two women
stayed with me, lyinge in the two low Rooms at the west end of the
Great Chamber there, over the kitchene." After four days' sojourn.
Lady Thanet went back again to Londesborough, picked up her mother,
the Countess of Cork, and they both journeyed back to Hothfield.
Lord Thanet came back again to Appleby in the following year
(1668) on his way to Londesborough, arriving so late that Lady Anne
did not see him till the next morning, when, says she, " He came up
to mee in my owne chamber and I kissed him with much joy and
comfort." He stayed a week and then one night took his leave of
her before she retired, and left very early in the morning, going to see
Viscount Dunbar ® in Holdernesse and then back to Hothfield.
An important event in connection with the family, which interested
her very greatly, was recorded in 1668. To it I refer at length in a
separate chapter. Her grandchild, Thomas Tufton, was chosen burgess
for Appleby, in the place of Mr. John Lowther. Lady Anne carefully
records the fact that he was " the first Grandchilde of mine that ever
sate in that House of Commons in the Parliament at Westminster.'
In September he came down to Appleby, and up into her room,
" where I kissed him," says she, " with much joy and comfort," as
she had not seen him for some years. He had come by way of London,
York, and Ripon, and the previous day from the inn at " Bowes in
Richmondshire," and he stayed with his grandmother for ten nights,
occup}dng the Baron's Chamber. She sent him about in all directions,
to see his constituents. He went to Acorn Bank to visit Mr. John
Dalston " bis fellow-Burgesse," to her house at Julian Bower in
Whinfell Park, to Edenhall to see Sir PhiUp Musgrave, and then she
had her sheriff, Mr. Thomas Gabetis,'* receive him at Crosby, take him
° Robert Constable, 3rd Viscount, succeeded 1666, died 1714. His brother was 4th and last
Viscount.
'» Tliomas Gabetis of Crosby Ravenswortli, under-sheriff for the County, died Z5th March
1694, aged 86. (See Bellasis' Westmorland Church Notes, I., 133.
238 Lady Anne.
to Lowther to see Sir John Lowther, and thence to Brougham. The
following day he went on to Howgill Castle," to see " the widow
Lady Sandford and Sir Richard Sandford her eldest Sonne," and two
da}^ afterwards he went to Pendragon Castle and to Brough Castle,
at none of " which houses and places above mentioned he had ever
been before, except at Brougham, where," says she " he had bin once
with me for a time in August and in September, 1658, with his mother
and some other of her children." After remaining with Lady Anne
for ten days he removed again to Brough, and thence went over
Staimnore into the inn at Bowes for one night, and so on towards
London.
George, the youngest Tufton son, was lame and not in good health,
and all kinds of different remedies had been tried. At length it was
decided that he should try some mud baths, and so, in 1669, in
May, he took sail at Dover, and after waiting for a fair wind arrived
in France, and went on to La Rochelle, staying there for a few days.
Thence he went to Bordeaux, and from there journeyed to the frontier
of Spain to try the effect of the baths. He was away for about a
month and then sailed back from La Rochelle and landed in Kent,
journeying to his elder brother Lord Thanet's house at Hothfield,
and thence to Bollbrooke to see his mother, but, says Lady Anne,
" my grandchild derived Uttle or no benefit by the said baths."
On the next occasion of the visits from the Thanet family to Lady
Anne they came to Appleby, but on their way home, she was anxious
that her daughter, who was accompanied by her three youngest
children, Anne, Mary and Sackville, should go to Pendragon. They
had stayed for some time at Appleby, and Sackville had been given
the best room in Caesar's Tower, usually alloted to the Judges, but
after the visit was over they left early in the morning for Pendragon,
" which was the first time," says Lady Anne, " my daughter or any
of her three children were ever in it, though most of her other children
had been in it before." Sackville went on ahead, as he had never
seen Brough, and was to journey there first of aU. He met his mother
and sisters on the way, and they all travelled over Stainmore to
Pendragon together, and then back to London to Thanet House.
^'This place belonged to the Lancaster family until 1438 when that family ended in four
daughters. One of them married Robert Crackenthorpe of Newbiggin. His grandson had
daughters only, and one of them married Sir Thomas Sandford.
Lady Anne's Guests. 239
In the August of that year they all of them had to leave Thanet House
rather quickly, " by reason the smallpox was so rife in that part of
London," and they went down into the country to Bollbrooke, where
they remained for some months. Thomas Tufton, the member of
Parliament, had occasion to visit his constituents in 1670 and, of
course, stayed with his grandmother. She tells us he came by way of
Greta Bridge, and over Stainmore to Pendragon, and while he was
there went to visit what she calls the remarkable places about the
Castle, " Wilborfell " ; Hugh's Seat.^^ Morvill ; and Holgill or Hell
Gill Bridge." ^' From thence he went to Edenhall to see his cousin
Sir Philip Musgrave, stopping on the way at Acorn Bank to see Mr.
Dalston. A couple of days later, he was at Kendal viewing the castle
and the church there, spending the night with Mr. George Sedgwick,
Lady Anne's steward at Collip Field, where Sedgwick had by that
time settled down. Then he came back again to Pendragon, and the
following morning left on a much longer journey, namely, into Scotland.
There, she says, he saw most of " the remarkable places and cities in
that Kingdome, Dumfries, Douglas, Hamilton, and the Duke's Palace
there (where he was nobly treated by Duke Hamilton) the City of
Glasgow, where he gave a visit to the Archbishop " at the castle, and
saw the university, the town and castle of Edinburgh, and thence
" to a place called Bask Island (Bass Island) which is so remarkable
for Soland Geese." He returned by Berwick-upon-Tweed, Newcastle,
and Barnard's Castle to Pendragon, where he stayed for another ten
nights, and then, with her great officers, went away through Whinfell
Park, by Brougham, to Dacre Castle, 1* thence to "Dunmallerd" Hill,^*
and so to UUeswater, and back again to Brougham, thence to Julian's
Bower, and so to Pendragon to see his grandmother, where he said
good-bye to her and left the next morning over Stainm.ore on his
journey towards London.
" Wild-boar-fell, a very high hill near Kirkby Stephen where the last wild boar was killed
in England.
^^ A conical hill overlooking Mallerstang, named after Sir Hugh de Morvill who was one
of the four knights who killed St. Thomas li Becket.
" Situate in a deep riven chasm, 60 feet of perpendicular rock, 10 feet wide and having below
it an older bridge called the " Devil's Bridge," hence its name. The chasm is concealed and
dark even at mid-day and the river Eden rises out of it.
1* Seat of Lord Dacre of Gilsland, sold in 1716 to Sir C. Musgrave, 4 square towers still standing.
1* Dunmallogt, at one time a crenellated dwelling place belonging to Lord Dacre,
240 Lady Anne.
Lady Anne not onh' records all these various visits, but also carefully
notes the marriages and deaths in the family, for example, on the i8th
of July, 1653, she speaks of the marriage of her grandchild. Lady
Margaret Tufton, who was married at her father's house in Aldersgate
Street, to Mr. John Coventry, whose father, says she, " Thomas, Lord
Coventry, was Lord Keeper of the Greate Seale of England." This
marriage was particularly interesting to her, because Margaret was
the first of her grandchildren to marry, and she accovmted it " a great
blessing of God to mee and mine." She refers with equal care to the
death on the 27th of October, 1661 of Lord Coventry " of gangrene
that was in several of his toes," and to the succession of her grand-
child and her husband to the dignities connected with the family.
Lady Margaret's first child was born in 1654 a-t Croome, " this being,"
says she, " the first child that made mee a Great-Grandmother, which
I accoimt as a great blessing of God," and just at the time that this
baby arrived Lady Thanet had her youngest child at the breast, and
Lady Anne speaks of the unusual circumstance in the following
words : — " My daughter of Thanett was there att the Birth and
Christeninge of this first Grandchild of hers, Soe as he sucked the
MUke of her Breast many times, she having here with her her now
youngest child, the Lady Anne Tufton, being about nyne weeks old."
There are many references in the diary to the birth and death of
infants, the mortality in infancy at that time being at an extra-
ordinarily high figure. In some instances, especially as we shall see
when reference is made to the offspring of her other daughter, Isabella,
almost all the children died in infancy.
Another grandchild to whose marriage Lady Anne specially refers
was Lady Cecily, fourth daughter and seventh child. She was married
on Feb. 12, 1668, by Dr. Evans, 1* one of the Duchess of York's chaplains
to Mr. Christopher Hatton, the eldest son of Lord Hatton. The
wedding took place at Sir Charles Littleton's " house in the Mews
"he," says she, " that is Cupbearer to the King," but only he and
his wife were present on the occasion, so that perhaps the family were
not very favourable to the match.
" Eventually Bishop of Bangor and then of Meath.
" Sir Charles was 3rd Baronet, Governor of Jamaica 1663, ot Harwich 1667, and of Sheemess
1680,
Lady Anne's Guests. 241
George Tufton, who went to try the mud baths, died in 1670, on the
12th December, in London, His death took place owing to a wound,
which had never healed. Four years before he had taken part in
the wars in Germany, and had received severe injuries from shot,
but he had never been a strong man, and it seemed impossible for the
wound to heal. After his death Lady Anne states that the body was
opened, and the surgeons were surprised that he had even Uved so long
after such a serious wound. He was buried at Raynham, by the
side of his father and two of his sisters.
The death of Lady Cecily Hatton is described at some length.
She died in Guernsey in December, 1672. " On the 29th of that
month," records Lady Anne, " being Sunday about midnight, did
there fell a violent storme of thunder and lightning upon the Island
of Guernsey, which, takeing hold of the Magazine powther, blew up
and destroyed Castle Comett, which was the Garrison of that Island,
by the ruins whereof were killed " says she, " Lady Cecily, who was
wife to the Governor there, and with her the Dowager Lady Hatton,
his mother, and many officers, soldiers and attendants." Fortunately,
the three children and Lord Hatton and some of his relatives were
spared. " And " she adds, " the dead bodies of my said Grandchild
and her Lord's mother were brought over into England to Portsmouth
and interred in the Abbey of Westminster." The three Utde girls were
brought in the following June from Guernsey in the Hatton yacht,
and landed at Portsmouth, and taken on to their grandmother. Lady
Thanet, at Thanet House in Aldersgate Street to live with her.
The escape of Lord Hatton at the time of the explosion was certainly
extraordinary, for the records of the day tell us that he was blown
\\p with the house and fell violently on the top of a wall where he
lay unconscious in his night apparel, for many hours, before he was
discovered, while the youngest baby was found peacefully asleep in
her cradle next day, under a great beam which had fallen across in
such a manner as to protect her from all other debris.
On the occasion of the last visit that Lady Thanet paid to her mother
Lady Anne mentions specially that she brought down with her one
of the Hatton children, the only one of the three that had survived.
This journey took place in 1674-5, " On the 3rd of August," says she,
" my dear daughter Margaret, Countess Dowager of Thanet, came
R
242
Lady Anne.
down to Appleby Castle with her grandchild, Anne Hatton
where in my owne chamber I kissed them with much joy, I never
having seen this Grandchild [should have been Great-grandchild] of
mine before. Lady Thanet stayed for about ten days, and then she
and the little grandchild returned to London again, the last occasion
upon which either of them saw the old lady. The final reference to
any of the Tufton family is in the very year of Lady Anne's death,
when she records the fact that her grandchild, Thomas Tufton, had
been sworn a Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke of York.
I must now, in brief fashion, refer to another branch of the family.
Lady Anne's younger daughter, Lady Northampton. Amongst the
papers at Appleby Castle there are two letters of some special interest.
The first was from Lady Northampton to her mother, immediately
after the decease of Lord Pembroke, and refers to the mourning which
Lady Anne had considered it desirable to adopt upon that occasion.
The letter dated February 2ist, 1649, reads as follows : —
My most dear mother, "
We received your letter of the 3rd of February, and I am glad your Ladyship
likes so well my sending of mourning. My Lord and I put on mourning within
four days after my Lord's death, and went not out of the house till we had it,
and according to your letter, wherein your Ladyship desires us to mourn, as is
usual in like cases, we will obey your command.
I cannot as yet hear how Baynard's Castle is disposed, when I do, your
Ladyship shall hear of it.
I am still in hopes your Ladyship will come to Cambury [Canonbury] and
will keep half the house for your Ladyship.
I rest your Ladyship's most humble and obedient daughter,
Isabella Northampton.
P-S. — I embrace you . . Ingles is very well. This air kisses her out of
Bajmard's Castle garden "
The second letter is a pathetic one which Lord Northampton wrote
to his mother-in-law, on May 22nd, 1649, teUing her of the death of
their eldest child. It reads thus : —
Madam,
God, that giveth and taketh away, hath pleased to call away my son, yet,
Madam, it comforteth me to see my dear wife bear it so patiently. God, that
sent this, may send more to be a comfort to us all. There wanted no pains
to preserve the life, but the Lord's will be done, so. Madam, not being willing
Lady Anne's Guests. 243
to demur upon so sad a subject, I take my leave, remaining your most obliged
son-in-law and humble servant.
Northampton.
This kind of trouble was to come upon the Comptons over and
over again. Every one of Lady Northampton's children died young,
with one exception. Lady Alethea was the only child who survived
to grow up to full maturity. The earliest visit that Lord Northampton
paid to his mother-in-law in the North took place soon after the birth
of his wife's second child. The little boy was born at Canonbury,
christened by the name of William, regarded by all the family as a
great source of joy and thankfulness, and by Lady Anne as an " extra-
ordinary great Blessinge and Scale of God's Mercies to me and mine,"
but in September of the same year, the child died at Castle Ashby.
In June, Lord Northampton came over Stainmore to Appleby, and
stayed with his mother-in-law, using the Baron's Chamber, for a fort-
night. " It was the first time," says she, " that I saw him or any
Sonne-in-Lawe of mine, here in Westmoreland, or in any part of mine
inheritance." While he was staying with her, he made excursions to
Carlisle and Naworth Castle and, when he left, she begged him to go
and see the mill at Silsden and the then decayed castle at Barden
Tower, and report to her about them, and he visited both on his way
south. In 1654, Lord Northampton with his wife and another little
boy. Lord William Compton, came to see Lady Anne at Skipton,
then occupying " the round chamber above myne, the Uttle Lord
in the chamber next to the old Castle." This, she carefully records,
" was the first time that my daughter of Northampton, or her Lord,
or her child, were at Skipton," and also the first time that her
younger daughter or any child of hers had ever been in the lands of
her inheritance. The baby was only a year old when he paid this
visit. His imcle, his father's second brother, Sir Charles Compton,
was with them. She took Lord and Lady Northampton over to see
the almhouses at Beamsley, then on to Lady Cork's house at Bolton,
as Lady Cork was at that time in Ireland; afterwards to Barden
Tower, and a few days later on little Lord Compton was taken
away by his Scotch nurse, to Otley, where they rested. Lord and
Lady Northampton and Sir Charles Compton met them at Otley,
and they all went on by way of York, back to Castle Ashby.
244 Lady Anne.
The next occasion when they came doxv-n (1657), there were two
babies, both boys, the elder Lord Compton, and WUliam, who had
been there before, but two girls had been bom and died in the interval.
This time, they were accompanied by Mr. Henry Compton, Lord
Northampton's youngest brother. In 1660, we hear of an important
visit. Lady Northampton had lost her second boy, but she had another
little baby girl, Anne, and accompanied by these two children, she
came down from Edington in Wiltshire, and from Compton in War-
wickshire to Barden Tower, where the family occupied " the four
Roomes on the west side of the great Chamber." This was the first
time on which her grandmother had seen Lady Anne Compton, and
while staying at Barden they all made an excursion over to Skipton,
Lady Northampton not having seen Skipton since it had been carefully
restored. On the 6th of August she and her two children and the
servants left Skipton with their whole com.pany for Compton Winyates,
Lord Northampton met them there from London, and the grandmother
adds with deep feehng that this was the last time she ever saw these
two grandchildren, for the little girl died in the following December,
and the boy in the September of 1661, nine months after his sister's
death, " to my unspeakable grief and sorrow." The girl was five years
and five months old, and a child, says her grandmother, " that pro-
mised much goodnesse." The boy, " a Childe of great hopes and
perfection, both of bodie and mind." He had lived to be eight years
and three months old. Lady Anne, however, adds to that entry an
even more pathetic one, " It was likewise the last time I saw their
Mother, my daughter." When her little boy died. Lady Northampton
was in London, under the physician's hands, lying in her Lord's house
in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and was unable to go down to Castle Ashby,
although the child, William, Lord Compton, was then so ill. The news
was brought to her that he had passed away, and within a month
his mother followed him. " On the 14th of October," says Lady
Anne, " in this year, about 8 o'clock in the morning, died his mother,
my youngest daughter Isabella, Countess of Northampton, in her
house in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London, when she was thirty-nine
years old, and some thirteen dales over, her two children (that are now
onelie left alive), James, Lord Compton and Lady Alethea Compton,
and their ffather the Earl of Northampton, lying then in that Howse,"
Lady Anne's Guests. 245
The news did not reach Lady Anne as quickly as it ought to have done,
for she had gone away from Appleby Castle a few hours before the
messenger arrived to Pendragon to stay for three nights, and when
she came back to Appleby the messenger conveyed the unhappy
intelligence to her. The httle boy only survived his mother less than
a year. By August of the following year he was dead also, the only
surviving son of his mother, about three years and three months old.
She describes in the Diary the post-mortem examination of his body,
and his burial at Compton, mentioning the fact that his father was in
London when he died, and was not able to come down even to the
funeral, and that Lady Alethea was now the only surviving child of
her mother. Lord Northampton, who appears to have been much
attached to his mother-in-law, came down soon afterwards to see her
at Skipton Castle, and to tell her all about his wife's death. He was
accompanied by his cousin, Mr. John Mordaunt, the son of Lord
Peterborough's younger brother. They spent some time with Lady
Anne at Brougham and then went off to Edinburgh, and various
other places, to see his aunt Lady Nithsdale,^^ returning again to
Brougham for some few days. She records the fact that the day
Lord Northampton came back w£is a Sunday, and that in the afternoon
he went into the chapel at Brougham to hear the sermon there, that
being the first time he was ever in that chapel, and a month later,
when he was again at Brougham, he went to the church at Ninekirks
in the afternoon to the sermon there, that being also the first time
that he was ever in that church. In the following month, he and
his cousin went away from Brougham to Kirkby Lonsdale for the
first night, moving on to Barden Tower for the second, and from
thence made their way to Castle Ashby, his family home.
In 1670, she had an interesting visit from Lady Northampton's
only surviving child, her " dear grandchild " the Lady Alethea Compton
who came down from Castle Ashby to Pendragon Castle, " to me,"
says she, " where I now kissed her in my own chamber, to my un-
speakable joy and comfort, it being the first time that I ever saw her,
though she be now nine years and three months old, wanting but some
four days." The little girl had come down in great state. She was
" Lady Elizabeth, daughter of Wm. ist Earl pi Nortbamptoo and wife of Robert, Earl of
NitlisdiJe.
246 Lady Anne.
in her coach, attended by four gentlewomen, a gentleman, and many
servants, and also by Colonel Carr, "that lives," says Lady Anne, " at
Skipton-in-Craven," and whom her grandmother had sent specially to
meet and protect her. She had come by way of Stam.ford, Newark,
Doncaster, Wetherby and Knaresborough, and at her grandmother's
particular request had stopped by the way at Beamsley to go and see
the Almshouses. Thence she journeyed on to Skipton, where the whole
party rested, and there she lay for two nights together, says. Lady Anne,
" in the highest room of the great round Tower at the end of the long
Gallery there, where her father and mother had layne formerly."
A separate excursion was made in order that she might see Barden
Tower. Then the party moved on to Kirkby Lonsdale, where she
rested for one night, and then, the tenth day after she had left Castle
Ashby, " she came safe, God be thanked, hither into this Pendragon
Castle to me, where she now lay in that Chamber over the great
Chamber, which hath windows to the East and South, for 33 nights
together." Lady Anne was determined that her grandchild should
see many places while she was staying at Pendragon. On one occasion,
she sent her " with her foitr gentlewomen and my two gentlewomen
to Hartley Castle, to see her cousin Mr. Richard Musgrave, and his
wife and daughter." She also sent her into Kirkby Stephen and to
Wharton Hall, and that day she returned to Pendragon about six
o'clock in the evening, while on another occasion she was sent to see
MaUerstang Chapel, which had just been rebuilt. On her way back
she was to see Brough, and then, after thirty-three days' sojourn in
the North, " this grandchild of mine, after I had kissed her
with her company went from hence to my castle of Brough
to see it and so from thence over Stainmoore, onward, on
her journey towards Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire, whither she
came safe and well (I thank God)," she adds, the 23rd of the month,
to her father. While she was at Pendragon, Thomas Tufton, who
was member of Parliament for the district, was paying one of his
visits to his grandmother, and he was lodged in the chamber over the
great chamber, which adjoined the room occiipied by Lady Alethea.
They were there for ten days together, and probably, no doubt, some
of the excursions were taken in one another's company. Thomas
Tufton always paid many visits when he came down into that part
Lady Anne's Guests. 247
of the world, and it was no doubt necessary for him to make himself
well known to the important persons in his constituency.
Lady Alethea came once again to see her grandmother only a few
months before her death. " I kissed her " she says " with great joy."
She had not seen her for five years. She stayed a week at Appleby,
and then returned home.
There are a few references to other members of the family in the
diary. EUzabeth, Countess of Cork, came to see her in 1656. She
had left her husband in Ireland, and had her two sons and her daughter
Elizabeth with her when she took the opportunity of coming to the
North, and paying a visit to Lady Anne. When she went back to
Ireland, she left her two boys, Charles, Lord Dungarvan and Richard
Boyle in England, as the latter had just entered as a student at Queen's
College, Oxford. Lord Cork and these two boys came to see her also
in 1660. They were then staying at their own house at Bolton Abbey,
and she was at Barden, so they came over and dined with her, but
returned again the same day.
In 1663, she refers at considerable length to the movements of the
Boyle family. Lady Cork and her husband, and their five younger
children had left their house in Whitefriars and journej^ed towards
Bristol and Milford Haven, and then passed over to Ireland, to Cork,
to Youghal, and to Lismore, for they had residences at each place.
They then came back again to England, and stayed there for two
years and a half, with the exception of a short journey that Lord Cork
and his two sons took to Ireland one summer. The eldest son. Lord
Dungarvan, married Lady Jane Seymour, the youngest daughter of
the widowed Duchess of Somerset, and she accompanied the family
on one of their trips to Ireland, the first time that she " had ever
been beyond the seas." She had a sister Mary, says Lady Anne,
who " was in Turkic at Constantinople." In 1663, they aU came back
to Whitefriars, and the reason Lady Anne enters into all these detsiils
is the fact that in that year the younger daughter Elizabeth was
married to her eldest grandson Nicholas, Lord Tufton, who less than
a month afterwards became Earl of Thanet. Then Lord Cork and his
wife, with the rest of their children, came down to Bolton Abbey,
and Lady Anne seems to have seen them on several occasions, as they
came over, both to SMpton and to Barden, to pay her visits. It is
248 Lady Anne.
evident that by this time they had made up their minds, either to
allow her to remain in possession of Barden Tower, or eke they had
concluded that it was better policy to be on good terms with her for a
while, even though she was forcibly taking possession of a part of their
estate. Whenever they came down to Londesborough or to Bolton
Abbey, she seems to have seen something of them, and carefully
records the fact that they had been over to see her, or that she had
visited them. Beyond these references there is little allusion in the
Diary to that branch of the Clifford family.
There are but two allusions to her Coventry relatives. In 1679,
she tells us that on the 26th of August of that year, her grandchild,
Lady Margaret Coventry, with her two surviving children, John and
Margaret, came with a great company from Croome to see her, journey-
ing by way of Nottingham, Doncaster, and over Stainmore, and sleep-
ing the first night at Brough Castle. She received them gladly at
Appleby, had them up into her room at once, and says " where I now
kissed them with much joy and contentment, this being the first
time that any of them were in Westmorland, or in any part of the
Lands of mine Inheritance, as also the first time that ever I saw any
to whom I am Great-Grandmother." She appears to have seen little
of Lady Margaret. She says she had only seen her when she was
young, and was staying with her at Baynard's Castle, just before
she came away to the North, and that she had not been present at
her marriage, and circumstances had prevented their meeting \mtil
then. She put Lady Margaret in the Baron's Chamber, and her
daughter Margaret, with her mother's gentlewoman, in the Sheriff's
Chamber near to it, while Mr. John Coventry was lodged in the Green
Chamber under the Withdrawing-room. True to her usual habit,
she determined that they should see something of the neighbourhood.
She sent them one day to Julian's Bower in Whinfell Park, and thence
round to the Three Brother's Tree, to Lowther Hall to her cousin Sir
John Lowther, where they dined, and in the afternoon they went on
to Brougham Castle to see that, returning eventually to Appleby.
They stayed with her for eight days, and then went back ageiin by
way of BroTigh, over Stainmore, through Greta Bridge to York,
where they stayed for a couple of days, and then made their way to
Croome in Worcestershire, resting one night en route at Coventry.
Lady Anne*s GuEsts. 249
There is no other account of any visit paid by this grandchild to the
North, but there are one or two reterences to her movements. For
example, she speaks of Lady Thanet going down to Croome to see
her daughter and sta37ing with her for a while, and explains exactly
the way of the journey, saying that Lady Thanet rested one night at
Wickham, and on her return stayed at Stow-in-the-Wold, and then
moved on to Oxford " to see the most remarkable things there,"
and afterwards to London. She also alludes to Lady Margaret coming
up with her own daughter from Croome to see her mother, leaving
Lord Coventry behind.
Her other grandchildren. Lady Frances Drax, Lady Mary Walter,
and Lady Anne Grimston, do not seem to have come North to see
their grandmother after their respective marriages, so far as the
records show, but Lady Mary Walter went to see her sister at
Gorhambury and stayed there for a fortnight, that visit being carefully
recorded, as also her journey back to Thanet House.
Other persons who are recorded in Lady Anne's diary amongst her
visitors are various members of families allied and connected with
her. I deal with them in succession. Her cousin Philip, Lord
Wharton,^* with his second wife ;^° his eldest daughter by his first
wife f^ his brother Sir Thomas Wharton ** and his wife ;** and their
mother, the widow Lady Philadelphia Wharton,^* came in 1651 to
Wharton HaU, and Lady Anne went over to see them. It was the
first time she had seen any of them in the North, and she appears to
have stayed a little while with them and then invited them all on a
return visit to Appleby.
Lord Wharton and three of his daughters by his second wife, Anne^^
who was Lady Anne's goddaughter, Margaret,** and Mary,^' came
again to see her in September, 1663, coming, she says, " from their
house called Holeigh Manor to Skipton," and remaining for a day or
two, and then returning home again. In 1669, in June, she speaks
" Philip, 4th Baron 1613-1695. "• Jane, daughter of Arthur Goodwyn.
^^ Elizabeth afterwards Countess of Lindsey. ^ Sir Thomas Wharton, K.B.
** Mary, daughter of Henry Carey, Earl of Dover.
^ Lady Philadelphia Carey daughter of Robert, Earl of Monmouth.
^ Afterwards wife to William Carr.
" Afterwards wife to Major Dunch (ist). Sir T. Sulyarde (2nd) and Wm. Ross (3rd).
" Afterwards wife to Wm. Thomas (ist) and Sir Charles Kemeys (2nd) from whom the
present Lord Wharton descends.
250 Lady Anne.
also of a visit from her cousin Sir Thomas Wharton, " second and
only brother to the now Lord Wharton." He stayed at Appleby for
two or three days. Finally, in 1674, Philip, Lord ^'\^aarton's two
eldest sons, " Thomas ^^ that was lately married, and Goodwin,^'
who is yet unmarried," came from their father in London to Wharton,
where they stayed for about a week, meantime coming to see Lady
Anne at Pendragon for two or three days. We also hear of his three
unmarried daughters coming to see her once during the Assizes, when
their father was staging with Lady Anne. Lord Wharton himself
came over many times to Appleby, as he frequently had business at
the Assizes, and he and his brother used to stajr with Lady Anne while
the Judges were there. She specially refers to one visit, saying that
it was the first time she had seen her cousin after the death of his
second wife.
There is a curious reference to Lord Wharton in a letter preserved
at Appleby, dated August 7th, 1665. It was written by him to Lady
Anne when she was at Brough, complaining in bitter terms that some
of her tenants in MciUerstang had boldly and openly killed a sow
which belonged to him, and which he was pretty sure came from
Wharton Park, and suggesting that she should proceed against these
tenants and give them severe punishment. He complains of the
obstruction to trade and commerce by reason of the plague, and sug-
gests to her that if she is in any difficulty respecting her rents, and
how to receive them, they might be paid to him at his house at Wobum
in Buckinghamshire, within six miles of Windsor, and he will arrange
to transfer the money to Lady Anne wherever she happens to be,
whether in either of her Westmoreland castles or at Skipton.
There are two references to visits from her Russell relatives. In
1666, when she was in Pendragon Castle, William Russell,^" " second
Sonne of my Cozen the Earl of Bedford and his wife, came from his
journey into Scotland, calling by ye way at Naworth Castle in Cum-
berland to see my Cozen the Earl of Carlisle and his Ladie that is his
Cozen," and apparently just looked in on Lady Anne en route.
In June, 1669, Lord Bedford's third son, who was Lady Anne's
^ Afterwards 5th Baron. » m,P.. died 1704.
^ Afterwards 5th Earl and ist Duke of Bedford.
Lady Anne's Guests. 251
cousin and godson, Edward Russell, ^^ with his wife and their children^
came to pay her a visit at Appleby Castle. They arrived late in the
evening, so she did not see any of them until the next morning, the
first time she had ever seen him in any part " of the lands of her inherit-
ance," or that he had been so far northwards, although she refers to
the visit of his elder brother William to her, at Pendragon. The party
stayed with her for ten nights, and she sent them to see her castles of
Brougham, Brough, and Pendragon, " and other the chief places of
this country." He had come to her by way of Lancaster and Kendal,
but he went back by way of Brough and over Stainmore, and so
returned to Wobum, and she had word of his safe arrival there.
Her relatives of the Herbert family are but once alluded to. It was
in 1669 when Lord Pembroke's youngest son " but one," Mr. James
Herbert, in company with a Mr. Thomas Saunders, came from Oxford-
shire to pay her a visit at Appleby, where, says she, " I now kissed
them both, it being the first time that ever I saw any of my second
husband's children in Westmoreland or any part of my inheritance."
They stayed with her, lodging in Caesar's Tower for five nights, and
then, having to depart exceedingly early in the morning, took their
leave of her the night before and journeyed over Stainmore to the
city of York, and so onwards towards Oxfordshire.
There is an interesting letter at Appleby addressed to Lady Anne
from this very Mr. Herbert, acknowledging a handsome present she
had made to his little boy for whom she stood Godmother. It was
on the 7th of December, 1664, that he wrote to her, and she has endorsed
the letter, saying that it was the letter from her son-in-law [meaning
of course Step-son] " when he gives me thanks for the Plate I sent as
a gift to his then New-born sonne Philip, to whom I was Godmother.
The letter, rendered in ordinary spelling, reads as follows : —
Madam,
Besides the great honour which your Ladyship hath been already pleased
to do me in being godmother to my son Philip, you have now again heaped
such high favours upon him and me, in your present of so noble a piece of plate,
that your name and family will ever be remembered in ours, and I could wish
that your Ladyship's life and happiness might be preserved as long as that
^ Edward, K.B., married Penelope widow of Sir Wm. Biooke,
252 Lady Anne.
piece of plate might last entire, which is the prayer of him who shall ever remain
Madam, ,. . , , , ,
Your Ladyship's most obedient son and humole servant.
There is also a single reference in the Diary to Lady Anne's
Sackville relations. On the 28th of August, 1672, Mr. Richard Sack-
ville,^^ " third son to the then Earl " of Dorset, " came from his
journey out of Scotland from his sister Humes,*' (who lives there) and
from the city of Carlisle (where he lay the night before) hither into
Appleby Castle, though I saw him not till the next day, and he
came into my chamber to me, where I kissed him, it being the first
time that I ever saw him, or that he and any of his parents' children
were in any part of the lands of mine inheritance." Mr. Sackville
stayed for three days, lodging in the Baron's Chamber, and then
resumed his journey to Kendal, and onwards to London.
Twice she mentions visits of members of the Stanley family. In
1656 Charles Stanley, Earl of Derby,** came to Brougham to see her,
and there remained for three or four nights, " being " says she, " the
first time that he was ever in that castle, where his Create Grand-
mother,*^ my ffather's Sister by the halfe blood, was bom." Many
years afterwards in 1674, in May, her " honourable cousin and godson
(by Deputy) Mr. Robert Stanley, second brother to the Earl of Derby,"
came for one night to Pendragon to see her, and the next day left on
his journey homewards to the Countess of Derby, his mother.
She records on three occasions visits from her Howard connections.
The first was in 1665, while the assizes were going on at Appleby, her
cousin Charles Howard, Earl of Carlisle,** accompanied by " young
Mr. ffenwick *' that married his eldest daughter," came to her for one
night. They were on their way to York to attend the Duke of York
there, and she says it was the first time she had seen her cousin the
Earl of Carlisle since he was Ambassador for the King in " Muscovia,
Sweden, and Dermiark." In 1669, in October, she had a visit at
'^ Richard [really] fourth son to Richard 5th Earl of Dorset, bom 1646, died 171a.
33 Anne, his sister, married Alexander 4th Earl of Home. •* Charles, 8th Earl.
S6 Margaret, wife of Henry 4th Earl, only child of Henry, Earl of Cimiberland by his wife
Eleanor Brandon.
» Charles ist. EarL
*' Sir John Fenwick, Bart., executed for high treason 27th Jan., 1697. His wife was Mary
Howard.
Lady Anne's Guests. 253
Appleby Castle from Edward, Lord Morpeth,*' " (eldest Sonne to my
Cozen Charles Howard, Earle of CarUsle) and his Ladie, who was one
of the younger Daughters to Sir William Uvedale by his second wife
Victoria Carey and widdow to one of the Berkeleys that was killed
at Sea in the late Warres." Lord and Lady Morpeth only stayed for
one night at Appleby, and were lodged in the Baron's Chamber, and
then continued their journey towards London.
The other allusion is at the end of her life, only a few months before
she died, on the ist of September, 1676, when she had a visit from
" Henry Howard, Earle of Norwich,^* and Lord Marshal of England,"
his eldest son, Lord Henry Howard,®' and Charles Howard, Earl of
Carlisle, both of whom were her cousins. They only came for the day
and she invited many of the gentry, both of Westmoreland and Cum-
berland to meet them at dinner, and then in the evening they left on
their journey towards I,ondon. She says that it was the first time
she had seen the Lord Marshal since he was a child, and that she had
never before met his own son. Lord Henry Howard.
On one occasion she refers to a visit of a grandchild of Lord Wenman,
who was on his way from Scotland to Wharton Hall, to stay with
Lord Wharton, and who came to see her en route, and the only other
important guest whose arrival she chronicles, is when in 1669, on the
14th of May, she had a visit from Sir Francis Rodes the third Baronet,
of Barlborough. He was accompanied, she says, by his sister, Mrs.
Jane Rodes, " whose mother," she adds, " was the widow Lady Rodes,
my Cozen german, She haveing bin younger Daiighter to my cousin
of Cumberland. This was the first time I ever saw any of his genera-
tion in Westmoreland." The widow lady to whom she refers was
Anne, one of the daughters of Sir Gervase Clifton of Clifton in Notting-
hamshire, whose mother had been Frances, the daughter of Francis,
Earl of Cumberland, so that Lady Anne had skipped a generation in
her reference, and was not quite as accurate as was usuaUj' the case.
This particular Sir Francis Rodes married Martha Thornton, a Quaker,
who was a great friend of William Penn, and their son Sir John Rodes,
who was the last Baronet, became a Quaker, and is frequently alluded
to in an interesting book which was written under the title of The
*' Afterwards znd Earl. " Henry 6th Dul?e of Norfolk eventually.
*» Afterwards 7th Duke of Norfolk.
254 Lady Anne.
Quaker Post Bag, by the present owner of Barlborough, Miss DeRodes
now Mrs. Godfrey Locker-Lampson. With the Rodes visitors came,
says Lady Anne, a Mr. Roger Mol5meux, " who had bin a Collonell
and now also lives in Derbyshire." He was a Molyneux of Teversal,
and was the son of the first Baronet of the family, Sir John Molynenx,
by his wife Anne, the widow of Sir Thomas Foljambe. He was at
that time a Colonel in the army, and he married Jane, the daughter
and co-heir of Sir Robert Monson. When the baronetcy in the Moly-
neux family became extinct, the property passed to the Howard-
Molyneux family, one of whom married in 1830 the Earl of Carnarvon,
and the estate still remains in the hands of that family. The Rodes
visitors and their companion stayed with Lady Anne several days,
and then journeyed to their own home, Barlborough in DerbjTshire.
255
CHAPTER XIV.
LADY ANNE'S RECORD OF PUBLIC EVENTS.
THERE are not very many references to events of public im-
portance in the diary, but such as there are, they are worthy
of special mention, and it will perhaps be simpler if I group
them together, rather than intersperse them with records of other
events.
Lady Anne's first allusion to Parliament is in 1660, when she
says that the new Parliament began to sit at Westminster on the
25th of April in that year. She says that the members, both for the
county and for the borough of Appleby, were elected most part " by
her means," and then that the parliament " proved to be a happie
Parliament, by calling in our Rightfull Prince Charles the second
into England, wherein also Generall George Monck, the General! of
the Armie in Scotland, was a great and a Happie Instrument." She
adds that His Majesty, with his two brothers, the Dukes of York and
Gloucester, came out of the Low Countries by sea into England, about
the 25th of May, that they landed at Dover, and went on to Canterbury
and Rochester, and that the day following, which she records was the
King's birthday ; they all made their triumphant entry into the City
of London to Whitehall. The joy, she states, was clouded with
sorrow, however, for the death of the younger brother, Henry, Duke
of Gloucester, who died on the 14th of September following, of
smallpox at Whitehall, in the Prince's lodgings, and was buried
afterwards in King Henry VII's. chapel. She also refers to the death
of his elder sister Mary, Princess of Orange (1631-1660), who died at
Whitehall, and was buried beside him in the same chapel.
There are several allusions to Queen Henrietta Maria in the diary.
The first occurs in 1660, when she mentions that about the 2nd Nov-
2^6 Lady Anne.
ember the Queen Dowager of England, as she calls her, daughter to
Henry IV. of France, " widow to our late Kinge and Mother to our
now Kinge," came to England with her yoimgest daughter Princess
Henrietta. She says that the Queen only remained in England two
months, and then left with her daughter for Portsmouth, and so back
into France, and very shortly after their arrival the Princess was
married to her cousin german the Duke of Orleans and Anjou, " he
that is second and only brother to the now King of France. ' ' This occa-
sion when Queen Henrietta Maria came to England, was. Lady Anne
records, the first time that she had been since her son had been restored
to his crown. In 1662, she alludes to the Queen's return. " She
landed at Greenwich," she says, " having newly come from her journey
from Calais in France, in a great Shipp over the seas, and so by the
river of Thames." The reference is of the briefest, merely that the
Queen had arrived. In 1665, we have a further allusion to her. She
says that on the 29th day of June of that year, being St. Peter's Day,
" did our Queen Mary the ffrenchwoman. Queen Dowager and mother
to our King Charles the Second, go out of Somerset House and out of
London Towne across over the Thames to Lambeth, and so, by easy
day's joumej^, to Dover in Kent." She tells us that the King and
the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, the Duke of Monmouth, and many
other of the nobility went with the Queen Dowager as far as Dover,
where they took their leave of her, and that then she crossed the seas,
in one of the King's ships, and landed safely at Calais, this being, she
adds, " the eleventh or twelfth time that she hath passed and repassed
the seas, to and fro between England and beyond the seas," while in
a footnote she mentions that, just before she left London, the Queen
Dowager took her leave of " Queen Catherine, her Sonne our King's
wife " at Hampton Court.
Two others complete the list of references to Queen Henrietta Maria.
They follow one another. She says that on the loth day of September
" in this year 1669, being now Friday, died Henrietta Maria, Queen
Mother of England, in her house called Colombe in ffrance, some four
miles from Paris, which house she had lately caused to be built herself,
who, if she had lived till the i6th of November following, would have
been sixty years old." She then goes on to describe the original
landing of Queen Henrietta Maria, and her marriage to Charles I.,
Lady Anne's Record of Public Events. 257
" who was afterwards unfortunately beheaded " ; describes the fact
that her funeral service took place in the Abbey Church of St. Denis,
near Paris, in France, where her dead body was then buried, and sajTS
that the funeral was " after the forme and magnificence as had bin
formerly used at the funerals of the Queen Mothers of ff ranee."
Finally, she describes her as a " woman of excellent perfections both
of Mind and of Body."
There is but the briefest allusion to the Coronation of Charles II.,
merely a mention that on the 23rd of April in 1661, while she herself
was in Appleby Castle, Charles II. was crowned the King of England,
in the Abbey Church of Westminister, with great solemnity " for
which God be praised."
In another document, however, an allusion occurs to the fact that
she sent up her page Lancelot Machell, then sixteen years old, to
London, on this occasion, to take some part in the ceremonial on her
behalf. He could not, of course, have taken the seat to which she
was entitled in the Abbey, but perchance, as representing a person of
such great importance, he may have been allowed a position in^ the
procession. The tradition in the Machell family is that for a long
period, ranging over four hundred years, there had always been one
of that family in the service of the Cliffords, and if Lancelot was on
this occasion sent up to represent Lady Anne, it must have been
peculiarly interesting to him, because it would appear that his uncle
acted as her page thirty-six years before at the Coronation of Charles I.
His father, Hugh Machell, was not present, as he ought to have been,
to receive the honour of Knighthood at the Coronation of Charles I.,
and this is proved by the records of the family, which refer to his
having been fined October 28th, 1630, for not having taken the trouble
to come to London when summoned to that ceremonial. Lieut.-Col.
Machell who, until his recent death, represented that family in West-
moreland, had in his possession a scrap of paper, on which are written
some words (not in Lady Anne's handwriting) with reference to the
Coronation Day. They read : —
A Ring, on the Coronation Day
Thy friend am I assuredly
And bid him read it
King Charles II.
258 Lady Anne.
The gift of the Right Honourable Anne, Countess of Pembroke, after the
Restauration of King Charles II. to Lancelot Machell of Crackenthorpe, Esq.
16 years aged.
This sentence would seem to apply to a ring which was always
said to have been given to Lancelot upon that occasion. Unfortunately
it appears to be no longer in existence.
On the same piece of paper is a further sentence, " Anne, Countess
of Pembroke, her own picture on a medal, given him twelve years of
age, 1681." This is somewhat puzzling, because if Lancelot was six-
teen when Charles IL was restored in 1661, he could not have been the
same person who was twelve years of age in 1681, and probably the two
sentences refer to two different persons, Lancelot the son of Hugh and
Lancelot his son, the boy page, brother to Susan Machell, lady-in-
waiting, or else that there is some grave error in the date. The picture
and medal are still in existence, the former resembling in many respects
the picture of Lady Anne (when Countess of Pembroke) still preserved
at Wilton. It is that of a comparatively middle-aged person, and not
of an old lady like the portraits of Lady Anne in the days of her
widowhood, copies of which she was in the habit of giving away. With
the paper is preserved one of the rare silver mendals of King Charles II. ,
one of the Coronation medals of the kind that were given away in the
form of largesse in the Abbey, and therefore very possibly obtained
by Machell in the place itself. The connection between Lady Anne
and the family of the MacheUs was one of peculiar intimacy, Mrs.
Susan Machell, an unmarried woman, but given the title of Mrs.
by courtesy, being one of her gentlewomen, and Mr. Henry
Machell, Susan's father, her chief steward. The medal ^ given
to Lancelot has been supposed by some persons to have been struck
for use at her funeral. This statement is incorrect, as the paper in
question proves. It is rare and precious, few examples of it remaining,
^ The Medal may be thus described : —
O. Bust of the Countess of Dorset, three-quarter length wearing a veil over the back
of the head, deep lace cape with brooch in front and bodice with a jewel
ANN: covNT : of: dorsett : femb : & : movntg, &c.
R. Faith crowned holding a Bible and leaning upon a Cross.
SOLE ■ DAUGHTER • & HEIRE TO GEORGE EARLE OF ■ CUMBERLAND.
Mint mark a cross crosslet. Size 1.6.
See Medallic Illustrations (2032 e 1885 B.M.), p. 567, No. 233.
See Pinkerton's Med. Hist., xxxiv., 2.
Lady Anne's Record of Public Events. 259
but on one or two of them there are rings attached, by which it is
said the medal was worn on the occasion of the funeral. This is of
course possible, as also is another statement that the medal was worn
by the inhabitants of her almshouses, but it was probably not specially
intended for either use but in all probability was struck by Lad.y Anne
in order that she might have some personal object she could present
to those persons to whom she desired to pay special honour, and they
regarded it as an object of importance and wore it on different occasions.
On the occasion of the Restoration, Lady Anne made a statement,
the formal copy of which still remains amongst the Appleby documents,
declaring her duty to King Charles II. It reads as follows : — " The
Countess of Pembroke certifies that, though her law suits and repair
of her decayed houses in these parts have very much exhausted her,
yet the zeal and duty she bears to His Majesty and his service are such
as (though her ability be less) she would not be behindhand with any
of her condition and quality in testifying the great joy she has for the
King's happy restoration, she therefore takes the boldness to subscribe
for the pajnnent of four hundred pounds at the end of the following
November, as soon as her jointure rents shall be received."
Lady Anne alludes twice to Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia. She
tells us that on the 17th of May, 1661, the Queen came over the seas,
out of the Low Countries to England to the City of London, to visit
her two nephews, Charles II. and the Duke of York, and adds that
the Queen had been now out of England forty-eight years and a month.
She tells us that Queen Elizabeth stayed, for the most part, at Lord
Craven's house in Drury Lane until January, when she moved to the
new built house called Leicester House in the Fields, not far from
Charing Cross, but that she was only in Leicester House for a month,
and there it was that she died. The other allusion is in 1662, when
she records the fact of the Queen's death. She describes her as
" aunt to the King and the Duke of York," and says that she died at
Leicester House in the Fields, and that she was buried in Henry VII. 's
chapel in Westminster Abbey, near to her father and mother, her
nephew, Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and his sister Mary, that she had
lived in England since the preceding May, and died on the eve of
the anniversary of her wedding day, forty-nine years before. She
also adds that none of the widowed Queen's children were with her
26o Lady Anne.
when she died, except her son Prince Rupert, who was then in England.
Lady Anne had several times come into intimate connection with
the Queen of Bohemia, and amongst the papers at Appleby Castle
there is an interesting letter to her, written from the Hague in her own
hand by Elizabeth of Bohemia, when Princess.
The allusions to Queen Catherine of Braganza are also shore. Lady
Anne only mentioning the Queen twice. The first occurs in 1662,
when she says that the Infanta of Portugal, daughter to the late King,
and sister to the present King of Portugal, after she had taken leave
of the Queen Dowager her mother, her brother and her sisters, came
on one of the King's great ships riding near Lisbon, and landed safely
about the 14th of May at Portsmouth, after she had lain upon the
seas in her journey from Lisbon ever since the 23rd of April. She
records that the King met her at Portsmouth, and that the following
day the wedding took place there in a public manner, she mentions
that from thence Queen Catherine travelled to Winchester, then to
Famham Castle, and so on to Hampton Court, and narrates the fact
that, soon after the Court had arrived at Hampton Court, Lady
Thanet, and her daughter Lady Frances (afterwards Lady Frances
Drax), went down to pay their respects to the new Queen. There is
also the briefest possible allusion in the following year to Queen
Catherine's miscarriage, and a statement that it was the third time
that this unhappy event had occurred.
The momentous and most unfortunate visit which the Duchesse
d'Orleans paid to England in 1670 is referred to. Lady Anne describes
with some satisfaction the fact that on the i6th of May, 1670, " Princess
Henrietta Maria, Wife of the Duke of Orleans," came from Dunkirk
over the sea into England, landing at Dover, and narrates that the
King, her brother, with the Duke of York and Prince Rupert, went to
meet her, that later on, the Queen visited her at Dover, but that the
Princess made a short stay and then returned back into France.
She then goes on to describe her arrival at St. Cloud, when she was
taken with " a sudden and violent distemper," " thought to be a kind
of bilious colic," whereof she died there on Monday the 20th of the
month following, about four o'clock in the morning, which sad news,
said Lady Anne, was brought into England to Whitehall the 22nd of
the same month by an express from " Mr. Montague, our King's
Lady Anne's Record of Public Events. 261
Ambassador at Paris," to the " great grief of His Majesty and the rest
of her relations."
Another visit to the King is recorded, that of His Highness William
of Nassau, Prince of Orange, " Oldest and only child to our now King
of England's eldest sister, deceased. ' ' Three days before this happened,
the King had opened Parliament, and Lady Anne had made one of
her very rare references to public events in alluding to this. She says
that the House reassembled at Westminster, " where our now King
Charles was then present in the House of Lords, habited in his Royal
Robes, and the Crown upon His head, and having taken His Place
with the usuall ceremonies in the Chair of Estate, His Majesty made
a gracious speech, in short, to both Houses, leaving the Lord Keeper
to open the particulars more at large." Then, three days after-
wards, the Prince of Orange arrived. He had taken ship, she
tells us, at the " Briol in Holland," and he landed at Margate, from
whence he went to Canterbury by post, and then by coach to Rochester.
There he stopped for a night, and the following day came on to Graves-
end, and so by one of the King's barges along the river to Whitehall,
where the King and Queen, his uncle and aunt, and the Duke and
Duchess of York, all received him with great demonstration of affection
and joy, this being the first time that ever this young Prince came into
England. It seems likely that the real reason for narrating this event
at such length in the diary is that the Prince of Orange was lodged
in the rooms by the Cockpit at Whitehall, which originally were at
the disposal of Lady Anne's second husband, the Earl of Pembroke,
" wherein," says she, " my late Lord, the Earl of Pembroke, did use to
lye, and wherein that Lord of mine dyed." She must have been well
acquainted with those rooms and interested in the fact that the Prince
of Orange was occupying them. She goes on to state that the Prince
went to Windsor Castle for one night, that he visited the Universities
both of Oxford and of Cambridge, and that he went to " see Audley
End House and other remarkable places in the kingdom." He was
attended by the Earl of Ossory, whom the King had appointed to be
with him in his voyage, and he left England on the 13th of February,
going from Whitehall to Rochester and thence to Sheerness, where
he went on board one of the King's yachts " and so," says she, " passed
safe and well over seas into his own country."
262 Lady Anne.
One can invariably trace in these entries in Lady Anne's diary some
reason for the recording of a public event, and that a reason in some
way connected with herself or her family. I have just referred to
the Prince of Orange having occupied her late husband' s rooms at the
Cockpit, and the only other entry respecting the visit of a Prince to
England is clearly mentioned because he stayed for a while at Wilton.
It was in the year 1669, ^^ March, that she teUs us that the "Prince of
Tuscany who was the eldest son to Cosmo de Medici the great Duke of
Florence in Italy, ' ' and who married the ' ' Duke of Orleans' daughter by
his second wife," came from Spain to England, in the course of paying
a series of visits to " the several Princes in Christendom to their several
Courts." He had been first in Ireland and then she says " He landed
at Plymouth, made his way to Exeter, and by slow journeys to Salis-
bury, " where," she teUs us, '' he was magnificently entertained " in
April by the then Earl of Pembroke at his house at Wilton, and later on,
the Prince of Tuscany came to London to Whitehall and was accom-
modated in what she calls " the house called the Pell-Mell near St.
James's " He went to visit Oxford, Cambridge, Althorp, Hampton
Court, Windsor Castle, Audley End and New Hall, and other places,
and then left for Harwich and over the seas to Holland.
She alludes briefly to the death of the Duchess of York,
styling her " that Anne Hyde that was Duchess of York," evidently
implying by this particular phraseology that she did not regard her
as a person of great moment. She died, so Lady Anne states, on
March 31st, 1671, in one of the rooms at the King's House at St.
James's '' wherein had formerly dyed Queen Mary," and she mentions
that the Duke of York and her three surviving children were present
at the death, and that the body, accompanied by Prince Rupert, who
was the chief mourner, and many of the English nobility, was buried
on the 5th of April in Henry VII. 's Chapel.
The only other reference to any member of the Royal Family that
occurs in Lady Anne's diary is when she states that on the 21st of
November, 1674, the Duchess of Modena, with her daughter and
" many persons of quality," came from their journey " out of Italy
(their own country) " and landed at Dover, where, says she, " His
" See the Travels of Cosmo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, by Count Lorenzo Magalotti (B.M.,
G, 74" and 586, g 12, 1 821). Magalotti was a friend of Sir Isaac Newton.
Lady Anne's Record of Public Events. 263
Royal Highness the Duke of York met them, and married the said
Duchess's daughter for his second wife." She then alludes to the
journey up to London to Whitehall and St. James's Palace, and to
the fact that the Duchess of Modena only stayed in London three
days, and went back from England on her journey into Italy," to her
own home there," accompanied by all her retinue.
One curiously odd reference occurs in the year 1670, where she
mentions, without any apparent reason, the fact that Cardinal Paul
Emilius Altieri was elected and proclaimed Pope by the name of
Clement X, and she adds that there had been a vacancy since the
9th of December, and that that was " the longest that there had been
in the Papacy since the reigns of Henry IV,. V., and VL"
To the two events of the Plague and the Fire she makes the briefest
of allusion. Of the Plague she merely says that in that particular
year in which she is writing there was " a great plague in the Cittie
and Suburbs of London whereof there dyed for severaU weeks together
above eight thousand a week, the like whereof was never knowne in
London before." The Fire, however, interested her rather more,
because it consumed both Great and Little Dorset House,^ and spared
Thanet House. Of it, therefore, she makes a more lengthy mention.
She speaks of the fire breaking out " in several places and houses
within the walls of the Cittie of London." She says it " continued
rageing there for about four days together before it could be quenched."
She speaks of its consuming " that ancient and noble Church of St.
Paul's " and the " whole streets of Cheapside, Blackfriars, and WMte-
friars, " and all the houses in these streets and the river of Thames,"
but, true to her home and family instinct, specially mentions that it
burnt down not only Ba5mard's Castle but Great Dorset House and
Little Dorset House, " in which three places," says she, " I had spent
much of my time whenT was wife to my first and second husbands,"
and then she adds that in all this desolation, Thanet House in Alders-
gate Street,* " my daughter of Thanet's jointure house, was preserved."
2 Dorset House had been origiiially the town residence of the Bishop of Salisbury, and was
bought from the See in Elizabeth's time by Sir Richard Sackville, who moved into it from
Fleet Street. Four successive Earls of Dorset were born in the house, and each generation
added on it, until, at length, it became so unwieldy that it was divided into two portions>
known as Great and Little Dorset House (see Bell's " Great Fire of London," page 152).
* In later days it was let to Lord Shaftesbury, and during his absence abroad John Locke
lived there. It came back after his tenancy, into Lord Thanet's hands but retained the name
264 Lady Anne.
With regard to the Great Fire, there is at Appleby an interesting
letter dated September 12th, 1666, in which Lady Thanet writes to
her mother at Skipton, she being at that time sojourning at Stamford.
She had only arrived the previous night, having fled away from
London, and she says in the letter " I hear it confirmed that Thanet
House is safe from the fire, and likewise Aldersgate Street, the nearest
that it came my house was Surgeon's HaU on the backside my garden,
which is burnt down to the ground." She goes on to say that the
Goldsmiths had secured all their money in the Tower, and that she
has heard that Dorset House was burnt down, but is not quite clear
whether that was the case or not. She adds " whether I have a bed
left at Thanet House or not, I do not know." Lord Hatton, she says,
had told her that aU was " burnt down from Pudding Lane, that is
the Bear at the Bridge foot, to Temple Bar." She concludes by
saying that she had sent a man up to London to her steward to arrange
if the beds had been carried out of the house, some of them were to
be got in again, because aU round about was dangerous from the
plague and the smallpox, there was hardly any accommodation in
the neighbouring houses, and it would be better in the circumstances
to stay in Thanet House, even if it had been injured, than to try for
other accommodation in the district.
of Shaftesbury House. At a far later period of its history it became a lying-in hospital and
eventually was pulled down. In 1766 it is described as a " noble and elegant building of brick
surmounted with stone " and is then declared to have been " built by the masterly hands of
Inigo Jones." From the prints of it one gathers that it had certainly much the appearance
of his work. There is a court near by still called Shaftesbury Court. Lord Thanet had a
house in the latter part of the i8th century in Great Russell Street, but his earliest residence
before he built a house in Aldersgate Street was in Fleet Street near to Childs' Bank where
this site is still known as Thanet Place.
265
CHAPTER XV.
THE LAST FEW MONTHS OF LADY ANNE'S LIFE,
WE are fortunate enough to have full and elaborate details
concerning the last few months of Lady Anne's life, since,
in the general destruction of papers which took place many
years ago, some few were saved, and amongst them the pages from
her Day-by-Day book, describing the various events of her life in
elaborate detail, from the ist of January, 1676, down to the 21st of
March of the same year. These entries are given verbatim, as they
are of special interest, and contain important information concerning
Lady Anne's life, and her personal habits. They have never hitherto
been printed in fuU, only a few brief extracts having been made from
them by Wm. Jackson, F.S.A. in a paper he read before the White-
haven Scientific Association in 1873.
They read as follows : —
January, the ist day, 1676. And this forenoon there came hither
from her House at Seatree Park Mrs. Winch, so I had her into my
chamber and kissed her, and she dined without with my folks in the
Painted Room, and after I had her again into my chamber and talked
with her a good while, and I gave her four pairs of Buckskin Gloves
that came from Kendal.
And this evening about seven o'clock after I weis in bed did Allan
Strickland comitt some disorder in my house of which I was acquainted
next morning by Mr. Thomas Gabetis my Sheriff but he shewing a
regret and compunction for these misdemeanors I was moved upon
his ingenious acknowledgement and confession to pardon him.
This morning about ten o'clock did some of my chief folks vizt,
Mr. Thomas Gabetis my Sheriff, Mr. George Sedgewick, Mr. Edward
Hasell, Mr. Henry Machell ; and the men to the first three, ride on
266 Lady Anne.
horseback to my Cousins Mr. John Dalstons at Mjlbrigg and dined
ther with him and his wife and children but came back hither again
about five o'clock at night.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber this day.
Psa. 121.
The 2nd day, Being Sunday I went not out of the House nor out
of my Chamber to-day, but my two Gentlewomen, Mrs. Pate and
Mrs. Susan MacheU [daughter of Lancelot Machell] and Mrs. Thomas
Gabetis, my Sheriff, and his wife and three of my Laundry Maids and
some of my Chief Servants went to Ninekirks where Mr. Grastyi
preached a sermon to them and the Congregation.
And to-day there dined without with my folks in the Painted Room
and with the Sheriff and his wife, Mr. Grasty, our parson, my two
Farmers here, William Spedding and his wife Jeffrey Bleamire and his
son, so after dinner I had them into my Room and kissed the Women
and took the Men by the hand, and a httle after Mr. Grasty, the parson,
said Common Prayer and read a Chapter and sang a Psalm as usual
to me, £ind them my family, and when prayers was done they went
away.
3rd Day. There dined here with my folks and with Mr. Thomas
Gabetis, my Sheriff, and his Wife, Mr. Lancelot MacheU of Cracken-
thorpe, so after dinner I had him into my Chaunber and took him by
the Hand and talked with him, and I gave him a pair of Buckskin
Gloves and afterwards he went away.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
4th Day. By the Gazette I this day received from London by the
post, the King by his proclamation doth forbid all coffee-houses in
selling of coffee publicly.^
5th Day. And by a letter received this day from my daughter,
Thanett, dated the 30th December I came to know that she is much
troubled with a pain in her head but that all her posterity are weU,
and that the Lord Hatton was married to his second wife Mrs. Yel-
verton the 21st day of last month.
And this afternoon did my Housekeeper Richard Lowes come into
^ Samuel Grasty, M.A., presented to the living of Brougham by Lady Anne in 1664.
^ This refers to the suppression of coffee-houses on the ground that they were " the resort of
disaffected persons who nourished sedition, spread reports to the defamation of the Government
and disturbed the quiet and peace of the uatioa."
The Last Few Months of Lady Anne's Life. 267
my Chamber to prayers, whome i had not seen in two months before
by reason of his great sickness so I took him by the hand and talked
with him.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day, Psa. 23rd.
6th Day. Bemg Twelfth day there dined here with my folks and
my Sheriff and his Wife, Mr. Samuel Grasty, our Parson, and Mr.
James Buchanan,' the Parson of Appleby, and his two sons and also
John Webster, so after dinner I had them into my Chamber, and took
them by the hand, and afterwards Mr. Grasty said prayers and read
a Chapter as he usually did upon Wednesdays to me and them and my
family and then prayers ended they went away.
This morning after I was out of bed I was so weak that I had a
swoning fitt but God be praised I recovered soon after.
And this morning I set my hand to three good letters of Hasells'
writing for me, one to my daughter Thanett, one to my Lord South-
ampton,* and one to Mr. WiUiam Edge all in answer to letters I received
the last post.
I went not out of my Chamber all this day.
7th Day. There dined here to-day without in the Painted Room
with my folks and my Sheriff and his Wife, Justice WilHam Musgraves
of Penrith and I had him into my Chamber, and I took him by the
hand and talked with awhile and I gave him a pair of gloves and then
he went away.
And this afternoon did my Sheriff and his Wife and servants after
they had layen here during this Christmas viz. : for fourteen nights
together, rid away on Horseback from me and us here towards there
[sic] own homes at Crosby Ravenside.
I went not out of my Chamber to-day.
The 9th Day, Being Sunday yet I went not out of my Chamber
all this day, Ergo, consequently. (Eccle) but my two Gentlewomen
* James Buchanan, the son of a prebendary, presented to the living of Appleby by Lady Anne
in 1661.
* It is not easy to understand this entry as the last Earl of Southampton died i6 May, 1667.
It Is probably an error for Northampton ; see under date Feb. 17.
^ This Judge was the second son of Simon Musgrave of Musgrave Hall in Middlegate, Penrith.
He was baptized June 22nd, 1607, married a wife, EUzabeth, had a family of eight children,
and died January 25th, 1685-6. The parish register records the fact that he was " buryed in
Wooline." The Cliffords and Musgraves were kinsfolk, see Cumberland and Westmorland
Archaeological Transactions, vol. xv., pages 82-104.
268 Lady Anne.
and three of my Laundry Maids and most of my Men Servants went
to the Church of Ninekirks where Mr. Grasty, our Parson, preached a
good sermon to them and the Congregation. And to-day there dined
without in the Painted Room with my folks Mr. Grasty, the Parson,
and my two Farmers here and after dinner I had them into my Chamber
and took them by the hand and talked with them, and afterwards
Mr. Grasty, our Parson, said Common Prayers and read a Chapter and
STUig a Psahn £is usueiI upon Sundays to me and to them and to my
Family and when prayers was ended they went away.
And this gth Day did I fix upon a Day to receive the Blessed Sacra-
ment with my Family which I intend, God willing, shall be the 25th
of this month.
loth Day. And to-day there dined here with my folks my Cousin
Thomas Sandford's Wife of Askham ® and her second son so after
dinner I had them into my Chamber and kissed her and took him by
the hand, and I gave her a pair of Buckskin Gloves and him five
shillings and then they went away.
And about five of the clock this Evening did George Goodgeion
bring me 28 books of Devotion he bought for me at Penrith, and I
then saw them paid for, and gave them all away but six to my Domestic
Servants.
The 12th Day. There dined here in the Painted Chamber with my
folks, Mrs. Jane Carleton, the Widdow sister to Sir William Carleton,^
deceased, so after dinner I had her into my Chamber, and I kissed her
and talked with her awhile, and I gave her 5s. and she went away,
and Mr. Grasty, our parson, also dined here as usual on Wednesdays
with me and my Family, and after prayer he read the Exhortation for
receiving the Sacrament which I intend, God willing, to receive the
25th of this month with my family and then he went away.
I went not out of my house nor out of my chamber to-day. Psa. 23rd.
•The Sandford's of Askham were connected with the Sandfords of Howgill Castle. The
family became extinct in the male line in 1730. Askham Hall was a large, old border tower
which was enlarged in 1574 ty Thomas Sandford, as can be proved by the inscription of that
date which appears on the west gateway in conjunction with the arms of Sandfords, Cracken-
thorpe, Lancaster and English, and the initials in two pairs T.S. and A.S. Thomas Sandford
transformed it into an Elizabethan mansion, the building being fully described in Curwen's
Castles and Towers, page 347. The wife of Thomas Sandford mentioned by Lady Anne was
one EUzabeth who, according to the parish registers, died a widow July nth, 1705.
' Of Carleton, near Penrith, a very ancient family.
The Last Few Months of Lady Anne's Life. 269
The 14th Day. And this morning after the Week Book was paid
did Mr. Henry Machell, my Steward, ride away towards Crackenthorpe
and the next day towards evening he came back again.
And to-day there dined here without in the Painted Room with
my folks, Mr. John Gihnoor and his man William Labourn, my keeper
of Whinfell Park, but his man dined in the Hall, so after dinner I had
them into my Chamber and took them by the hand and talked with
them and then they went away.
And there also dined here Elizabeth Atkinson ® daughter of Mr.
Warcopp so after dinner she came into my Chamber and I kissed her
and gave her two shillings and sixpence and then she went away.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 17th Day. To-day there dined without with my folks my
Cousin Mr. Thomas Burbeck * of Hornby and his wife and their little
daughter, and his father-in-law Mr. Catterick and his wife and his
Mother, and they also all dined here, Mr. Robert Carleton,^" only son
to the widdow Lady Carlton, so after dinner I had them all into my
Chamber and kissed the women, and took the men by the hand and
* It seems to be possible that this Elizabeth Atkinson may have been the widow of Captain
Atkinson who was concerned in the Kaber Rigg plot. Atkinson was a man of considerable
social influence, and a zealous supporter of Oliver Cromwell. He was one of those who attempted
to choose a Round-head mayor for Appleby by force of arms, and he it was who induced
the Prcitector to impose a new charter upon the Borough of Appleby which the Mayor and
Corporation refused to accept, and declined to carry out any of its provisions. At the Restora-
tion, Atkinson adhered to the laws which the nation had set aside, rose in rebellion against the
constituted authority at Kaber Rigg, was taken prisoner and tried by a Special Commission
as a traitor. He had been a bitter opponent of Lady Anne, and she was deeply interested
in the trial, and cannot refrain in a certain exultation when he was condemned and executed.
According, however, to her customary habit she had no sooner got her enemy out of her way
than she herself did all she could for those remaining behind him. She appears to have been
particularly kind to Mrs. Atkinson and to the traitor's children, permitting them to remain
on their father's estate at Dale Foot at quite a nominal rent, and it is stated that their descendants
continue there to the present day. It is rather a curious fact that the Warcops had sold their
property to the Braithwaites only a little while before, and the Braithwaites had moved what
little they could of heaven and earth on behalf of Atkinson when he got into his trouble. It
seems therefore to be quite likely that this EUzabeth Atkinson, who was a Warcop, was the
person in question and belonged to the family not more than two generations away from those
who sold the Warcop Manor.
'The Birkbecks of Hornby Hall near Brougham, not of Hornby Castle, Craven. The house
is near to Ninekirks Church. It used to contain the finest carved oak in the county ; all
of it is now to be found in Lowther Castle and there is an interesting story concerning its
removal to that place.
^^ Robert, the only son of the second wife of Sir Wm. Carleton of Carleton. She was Barbara
daughter of Robert de la Vale of Cowpan,
270 Lady Anne.
I gave to my Cousin Mr. Burbeck and his Wife each ten shillings,
and his Mother ten shillings, and his Father-in-law Mr. Catterick and
his wife each of them ten shillings, and six shillings to the child, and
then I gave Mr. Carleton a pair of Buckskin Gloves and then they cill
went away.
I went not out of my House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 19th Day. I remember how this day was 59 years in the
withdrawing chamber of Queen Anne the Dane, in the Court at White-
hall did that Queen admonish me to persistt in my denyall of trusting
my cause concerning the lands of my Inheritance to her husband
King James's award, which admonition of hers and other my friends,
did much confirm me in my purpose so as the next day I gave that
King an absolute denyall accordingly which by God's Providence
tended much to the good of me and mine.
I went not out of my House nor out of my Chamber to-day. Psa. ist.
The 22nd Day. There dined here without with my folks in the
Painted Room Mr. Robert WiUison of Penrith, the Post Master, so
after dinner I had him into my chamber and took him by the hand
and talked with him and saw him paid for a Rimdlet of Sack another
of White Wine and a Gallon of Clarett ^^ against my receiving the Holy
Sacrament.
The 24th Day. And this day there was none that dined here nor
visited me, so I spent the day in hearing some chapters read to me
and in preparing myself to receive the Holy Sacrement of Bread and
Wine which I intend, God willing, to receive with my family.
The 25th Day. I remembered how this day was 52 years, in the
withdrawing Room Chamber at Knowle House in Kent as we satt
at dinner, had my first Lord and I a great falling out, when but the
day before I came from London, from being Godmother to his Brother's
youngest son. Deut., c. 23, v. 5.: — "Nevertheless the Lord thy
God would not hearken unto Balaam, but the Lord thy God turned
the curse into a Blessing, because the Lord thy God loveth thee."
And this Morning about eight o'clock did Mr. Samuel Grasty, our
parson, preach a good Sermon in my Chamber to me and my family
and a little after he administered the Sacrement of Bread and Wine
to me and my family, viz., to Mrs. Frances Pate and Mrs. Susan Machell
" Was all this Gallon of Clarett to be used for the early Communion next day?
The Last Few Months of Lady Anne's Life. 271
(my two Gentlewomen), Dorothy Demain, Margaret Dargue, Anne
Chipendale, and Jane Slidall my four Laundry Maids, Isabella Jordon
my Washwoman, Mr. Edward Hasell [Estate Steward], Mr. Henry
MacheU [Appleby Estate Steward], George Boodion [valet], Edward
Forster, AUan Strickland [Chief Steward], William Dargue, Jos. Hall
[Chief Groom], Abraham Fitter [Postillion], Isaac Walker [Stable
Groom], Richard Raynolson, William Buckle, Richard Lowes [House
Steward], Cuthbert RawUng, Jacob Murgatroids, Arthur Swinden
[Under Butler], and George Lough, the Clark, which I nor they received
since the third of November last, and Parson Grasty dined here with
my folks and then he went.
I went not out of my House nor out of my Chamber to-day. Psa. 121.
The 28th Day. And this morning by letters I received from my
daughter Thanett and by the packet of this week from London I
came to know that she herself my said daughter was well and most of
her generation and posterity in their several places and homes.
The 29th Day. And yesternight late did John Bradford come
from Skipton and over Cotter and Stake afoot hither, but I did not
see him tiU this morning and he brought the news of Mrs. Sutton's
death, the Mother of my Almshouse at Beamsly.
And this morning about six o'clock before I got out of my bed did
I pair the tops of my Nails of my Fingers and toes and burnt them in
the fire after I was up, I went not out of the House nor out of my
Chamber to-day.
The 30th Day. Being Sunday I considered how this was 86 years,
then Friday about seven o'clock in the Evening was my blessed
Mother with very hard labour brought to bed of me in her own Chamber
in Skipton Castle, my Brother Robert, Lord Clifford, then all lying
in that Castle, but my Noble Father then lay in Bedford House in the
Strand at London.
The 31st Day. And this day did my family keep as a fast the
Martyrdom of King Charles the ist, tho' he was beheaded the day
before, the day being commanded by Act of Parliament. And this
day about three o'clock in the afternoon did John Twentyman,
Gardener, to the Lord Bishop of Carlisle,!^ came from Rose Castle in
^2 Amongst the papers at Appleby Castle, there is a letter from this Bishop of Carlisle to
Lady Anne. It is dated Feb. 22, 1663-4, and in it th^ Bishop says that he understands by
272 Lady Anne.
Cumberland hither to this Brougham Castle to look after and order
my Garden here,^* so he lay in the Bannister Room five nights to-
gether, during which time he worked in my Garden here, upon
Saturday the Fifth of Febuary, in the mormng, he went home again,
and I sent by him a Bottle of the Pulp of Pomcittron ^* to the Bishop
of Carlisle.
February the 7th Day. Being Shrove Monday, and to-day there
dined without with my folks, Dorothy Wiber, the woman of my
Almshouse at Appleby, and after dinner I had her into my Chamber
and saw her paid for five dozen yards of Bonlace, but I was very angry
with her for bringing so much and told her I would have no more
of her.
I went not out of my house nor out of my Chamber to-day. Psa. 121.
And this afternoon about one o'clock, after I had taken my leave
of them in my Chamber, did Mr. Edward HaseU and Christopher
Rawling ride out of this Brougham Castle, towards Rose Castle in
Cumberland to his Uncle and Aunt the Bishop of Carlisle ^^ and his
Lady, when he and bis Man, lay three nights, and on the 14th day they
came back again hither.
I went not out of my house nor out of My Chamber to-day.
This afternoon, about one o'clock, did Sir George Fletcher^® and his
lady and her daughter by her first husband, and Mr. Fleming " and
Sir Philip Musgrave that she has been pleased to give way to the exchange of Brougham and
Calbeclt, " whereby," says he, " two worthy men may be pleasured, and God and His Church
in both places well served." He then begs leave to be excused from coming to see her, and
making, as he says, her Castle his inn, as the time that he has at his disposal when in that part
of Westmoreland is very short. He was going to take a confirmation at Penrith on the 2nd March,
and must, he says, be in Appleby for a similar duty on the following day.
^ Perhaps for Topiary work similar to that being introduced at this period at Rose Castle
and Levens Hall.
1* Perchance a kind of apple and lemon marmalade.
^ Dr. Rainbow. His portrait, and that of Mrs. Rainbow still hang at the Hasells place,
Dalemain, near Penrith.
" Sir George Fletcher of Hutton and his wife Maria, daughter of the Earl of Annandale.
His wife's firat husband was Sir George Graham, Bart., of Netherby, she had by him one
daughter, Margaret.
" This must be Daniel Fleming of Rydal Water (1633-1701), who married Barbara Fletcher,
daughter of Sir Henry Fletcher of Hutton, and who had by her fifteen children. He is the
hero of Dr. Magrath's amazing work on "The Flemings in Oxford, 1650-1700," a veritable
directory of the notable people in Westmoreland at the period. From this book we have had
by special permission the privilege of making frequent quotations, all of which are marked
thus (F). The eldest daughter was Catherine, who appears to have married in 1677 Rog*r
Moore, afterwards Recorder of Kendal. (F.)
The Last Few Months of Lady Anne's Life. 273
his eldest daughter, come hither, so I had them into my chamber
and kissed the women and took the men by the hand, and Sir George
delivered to me severall letters of my ancestors, which were sent me
by order of my Lord Marshall, and after I had talked with them and
given the women each of them an emerald gold ring they all went
away.
12th day. In the morning did I see Mr. Robert WiUison ^^ of Penrith,
paid for a rundlet of sack, but I was very angry with h'm, because
I thought it too dear, and told him I would have no more of him,
and then he slipt away from me in a good hurry.
The 14th Day. And this day did John Webster come hither into
my Chamber so I took him by the hand and talked with him and
then he retreated into the Dining Room, and dined with my folk.
And this 14th day early in the morning did my Black Spoted Bitch
called Zurmue [the word may be " Quinne "] pupp in my Bed and
Chamber four little puppies but they were all dead.
I went not out of my House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 15th Day. And came hither this afternoon about one o'clock
my Cousin Mrs. Anne Howard,^* sister to Mr. Francis Howard of
Corby ^^ and her cousin Sir Charles Howard's daughter and two other
Gentlemen with them, whose names I know not, so I had them into
my Chamber and kissed the women and took the men by the hand
and talked with them a good while, and a little after they rode away
on Horseback to the said Corby Castle in Cumberland.
I went not out of my house nor out of my Chamber to-day.
17th Day. I remember how this day was 60 years when I and
my first Lord lay in Little Dorsett House in London Town in the
afternoon in the best Gallery in Great Dorsett House did George Abbot,
Archbishop of Canterbury and many others come to my first Lord
and mee and did earnestly perswaid mee both by fair words and
threatings to stand to the award of the four judges, wou'd then make
1^ This man who supplied Lady Anne with her wine was doubtless a vintner who was at the
same time an inn-keeper. There is some interesting evidence to this effect in Bishop Nicolson's
diary under date February 27th, 1684-5. The Archdeacon of Carlisle, who was a pluralist.
Rector of Salkeld and and many other livings, although still residing at Oxford, had to go
with the bishop's address to Penrith, and he particularly records that on that occasion he lodged
at R. Willisons.
M Died unmarried 1683.
'"' Governor of Carlisle, died 1702, his brother married a Dalston of Acorn Bank.
T
274 Lady Anne.
betwixt my first Lord and mee on the one part and my Uncle of
Ciimberland and his son on the other part concerning the land of
mine inheritances and thereupon it was agreed that I should go to
my Blessed Mother In Westmoreland and begin my Journey the 2ist
of that month, which I did accordingly. Eccles., c. 3 ; Pro., c. 20.
And this 17th day in the afternoon about three o'clock did my
Cousin Mr. Richard Musgrave *^ oldest son to my cousin Sir Philip
Musgrave, and his Lady and their daughter, who is their only chUd,
come in their coach hither from EdenhaU, and I had them into my
Chamber, and kissed my said Cousin and his wife and the child and
also their gentlewomen and I gave to my Cousin, wife and child, each
of them a gold Ring, and after they had stayed awhile they went away.
And this day did my Servant, Mr. Thos. Strickland, and his man,
Lancelot Machell, ride from his own house near Kendtd called Gamett
House towards Appleby whither they came that night to gather my
Candlemas Rents, and he lay in the Barron's Chamber there and his
man in the Musty Chamber. And to-day I had one or two very iU
fitts. Yet I slept well in the night, thank God.
I went not out of my house nor out of my Chamber to-day.
17th day. This morning did I sett my handwriting to four good
letters of HaseU's writing, one to my granddaughter of Thanett, one
to my Lord Northampton, one to Sir Thomas Wharton,^^ and one
to Mr. William Edge, all in answer to letters I received from them by
the last post.
The 20th Day. And tho' to-day was Sunday, yet I went not out
to Church nor out of my Chamber aU this day, but my two Gentle-
women and three of my Laundry Maids and most of my chief men
Servants went to this Church called Ninekirks where he preached
a good Sermon, vizt., Mr. Grasty, our Parson, so them and the rest
conjectured tho' one part thereoff seemed to reflect upon the writer,
so that I thought he spoke to none but me.
After dinner Mr. Grasty said Common Prayers, and read a Chapter
and sang a Psahn as usual upon Sundays to me and to my Family.
The 2ist Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years did my
2' Afterwards 3rd Bart., he married Margaret, daughter to Sir Thomas Harrison and had
only one child, Mary, afterwards Mrs. Davyson of Durham.
'"'Of Edlington, York, grandson of Philip, 3rd Baron, whose wife was Lady Frances Clifford.
The Last Few Months of Lady Anne's Life. 275
first Lord and I go out of Little Dorsett House in London Town on
our Journey Northwards so as that night we lay in the Inn at Dunstable
in Bedfordshire as were in our Journey, I towards Brougham Castle
to my Blessed Mother and he to sett me on my way as farr as Lichfield
in Staffordshire. Eccle., c. 3rd, etc.
The a2nd Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years my first
Lord and I went out of the Inn at Dunstable and so through Stony
Stratford and hard by Grafton House, in Northamptonshire, into the
Inn at Towcestor in that County as we were in our Journey Northwards.
Before I was out of my bed did I pare off the tops of the naUs of
my fingers and toes, and when I was up I burnt them in the chimney of
my chamber, and a little after in this same chamber of mine did George
Goodgion clip off all the hair of my head, which I likewise burnt in
the fire, and after supper I washed and bathed my feet and legs in
warm water, wherein beef had been boiled and brann. And I had
done none of this to myself since the 13th of December that George
Goodwin cut my hair for me in this chamber of mine. God grant that
good may betide me and mine after it.
I went not out of my House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 23rd day I remembered how this was 60 years my first Lord
and I went out of the Inn at Stony Stratford, into my Cousin Thomas
Ehnes's House at Lillford, in Northamptonshire, for awhile and so
that day into the Inn at Warwick, in Warwickshire, where we lay
that night.
And to-day there dined with my folks in the Painted Room Mr.
Samuel Grasty, our parson, and afterwards he said Common Prayers
and read a Chapter as usual on Wednesdays to me and my Family
and there also dined without with my folks Mr. Thomas Ubank of
Ormside,^^ the Doctor, so after dinner I had him into my Chamber,
and I took him by the hand and I gave him six shillings, and caused
him to go up into Arthur Swindon's Chamber to see him and he came
up and sayed prayers and then he went away, and afterwards I paid
Mr. Samuel Grasty his twenty shillings for saying prayers to me and
my family for a month last past, and then they all went away.
I went not out of my House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
33 There were some Ubanks (or Ewbanks) of Rosgill, Shap, but I cannot trace the family
in Qrmside,
276
Lady Anne.
The 24th Day. I remembered how this was 60 years my first Lord
and I after I had been to see Warwick Castle and Church went out
of the Inn and so into Guy's Cliff to see it, and from thence that night
we went into the Inn at Litchfield where we lay two nights because
the next day was Sunday.
I went not out of my House nor out of my Chamber to-day. Psa. 121.
The 25th Day. I remembered how this was 60 years and then
Sunday. My first Lord and I went forenoon and afternoon into the
Church at Litchfield to the Sermon and Service there and afterwards
into other the most remarkable places in that town and that night
we lay again in the Inn there.
And this day did Mr. Thomas Strickland, one of my chief officers,
and his man, Lancelot Machell, ride on horseback towards Appleby
Castle, to receive there the rest of my Candlemas rents ; and the
28th day they returned and came back hither to me and us here.
And tliis day there dined without with my folks my cousin, Mr.
Thomas Burbeck of Hornby Castle , and his wife and their lit tie daughter,
and his father-in-law, Mr. Catterick, and his wife and his mother,
and there also dined here Mr. Robert Carleton, only son to the widdow,
Lady Carleton. So after dinner I had them all into my chamber,
and kissed the women and took the men by the hand, and I gave to
my cousin, Mr. Burbeck, and his wife each ten shillings, and his mother
ten shillings, and his father-in-law Mr. Catterick, and his wife each
of them ten shillings, and six shillings to the child, and gave Mr.
Carleton a pair of Buckskin gloves, and then they all went away.
[See Jan. lyth].
The 26th Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years I and my
first Lord went out to the Inn at Litchfield in Sir George Curzon's
House at Croxall in Derbyshire, from whence we went to Burton-upon-
Trent in Darbyshire where my first Lord and I then parted, he returning
back to Litchfield where he was to stay for four or five days then
about a great foot race that was then there, but I proceeded on my
Journey towards Brougham Castle and came to Darby and lay in
the Inn there.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 27th Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years did I
go out of the Inn at Darby into two Houses at Hardwick now both
The Last Few Months of Lady Anne's Life. 277
belonging to the Earl of Devonshire and so from thence into the Inn
at Chesterfield in that County where I lay that one night. And the'
to-day was Sunday yet I went not to the Church nor out of my Chamber
all this day. Psa. 23rd, but my two gentlewomen went and two of
my Laundry Maids and most of my men Servants, rode on Horseback
to Ninekirks where Mr. Grasty, the parson, preached a very good
sermon to them and to the Congregation.
The 28th Day. I remembered how this was 60 years I went out of
the Inn at Chesterfield in Darbyshire into the Earl of Shrewsberries'
House called Sheffield in Yorkshire to see it and that Evening I went
to the Inn at Rotherham in that County where I lay that one night.
And to-day there dined here in the Painted Room with my folks
Mr. Christopher Dalston of Acorn Bank, oldest son to my Cousin
Mr. John Dalston, and his wife, so after dinner I had them into my
Chamber and kissed his wife and took him by the hand and likewise
talked with them a good while and I gave to his wife a pair of Buckskin
Gloves and then they went away.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 29th Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years I went
out of the Inn at Rotherham in Yorkshire into a poor Parson's House
at Peniston in that County where I lay that one night. And this
afternoon did Mr. Thomas Strickland pay to Mr. Edward Hasell for
my use £305 5s. od. of my Westmoreland Rents, due at Candlemass
last for which I now gave Strickland an acquittance under my hand
and saw the money put up in a trunk in my Chamber.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day,
March The ist Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years I
went out of the poor Parson's House at Peniston in Yorkshire over
Peniston Moor, where never coach went before mine, into the Inn at
Manchester in Lancashire where I lay that one night.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 2nd Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years I went
out of the Inn at Manchester into the poor Cottage at Chorley where I
lay there in a poor Ale House there that one night, wliich was within
three miles of Latham House but I did not see it by reason of the Mist.
And to-day there dined without in the Painted Room with my
folks Mrs. Willison of Penrith, and after dinner I had her into my
278 Lady Anne.
Chamber and kissed her and took her by the hand but told her I would
have no more Wine of her husband because he used me so badly and
then she went away.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 3rd Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years I went out
of the poor Cottage at Chorley, though it was Simday, by reason the
lodgings were so bad, into the Inn at Preston in Adersey in Lancashire,
where I lay that one night.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 5th Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years I went
out of the Inn at Lancaster town into the Inn at Kendall in West-
moreland where I lay that one night. And to-day there dined without
with my folks in the Painted Room Mr. Samuel Grasty and my two
Farmers here, so after dinner I had them all into my Chamber, and
Mr. Grasty was paid his twenty shillings for sajdng prayers to me
and family for a month last past, and after he said Common Prayers
and read a Chapter and sung a Psalm (as was usual upon Sundays)
to me and them afforesaid and then when prayers were ended they all
went away.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 6th Day. I remembered how this day 67 years my blessed
Mother with many in our company brought me from her house in
Austin Fryers to the Court of Little Dorsett House in Salisbury Court
in London town to live there with my first Lord, being but married
to him the 25th of the month before. EccL, c. 3, and c. 8., v. 6.
And I remembered how this day was 60 years I went out of the
Inn at Kendal to Brougham Castle to my Blessed Mother.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 7th Day. And this morning died Arthur Swindon, my under
Butler, who has served me about fourteen or fifteen years, and the
next day about two of the clock in the afternoon was his dead Body
burned in Ninekirks Church, where Parson Grasty preached his
Funeral Sermon and most of my Servants and others attended the
Corps to the Funeral.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 9th Day. And to-day there dined with my folks in the Painted
Room My Cousin Mr. John Dalston of Acorn Bank, and after dinner
The Last Few Months of Lady Anne's Life. 279
I had him into my Chamber and took him by the hand and talked
with him and then he went away.
And there also dined with my folks Mr. John Gilmoor, the Keeper
of Whinfell Park, and his man, Wm. Labourn, dined below in the Hall,
and after dinner after my Cousin was gone from me, I had them both
into my Chamber and took them by the hand and talked with them
and then they went away.
I went not out of the house nor out of my Chamber to-day.
loth Day. And this morning I saw George Goodgion ^* paid for
two hundred and forty-nine yards of linnen cloth that he bought for
me at Penrith, designed for twenty pair of sheets and some pillow-
veres for the use of my house ; and after dinner I gave away several
old sheets which were divided amongst my servants, and this afternoon
did Margaret Montgomery, from Penrith, the sempstress, come hither,
so I had her into my chamber and kiss'd her and talked with her,
and she came to make up the twenty pair of sheets and pillow- veres.
The 13th Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years I went
from my blessed Mother to Naworth Castle, in Cumberland, to the Lord
William Howard, my first Lord's Uncle, and his Wife, the Lady Eliza-
beth Dacres (my Father's Cousin German) and many of their sons
and their Wives and their Daughters and their children and their
Grandchildren and I lay there in it for two nights.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber to-day.
The 15th Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years in the
morning I went out of Naworth Castle, from Lord William Howard
and his Wife into the City of Carlisle where I went into the Castle
there, wherein was bom into the world the Lady Anne Dacres, she
that was afterwards Countess Dowager of Arundale and I went into
the Cathedral Church there, wherein was hurried my great Grandfather
William, Lord Dacres, and from thence I went the same day into
Brougham Castle where I continued with my Blessed Mother till the
second of the Month following that I went from her and never saw
her after.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber this day.
The 17th Day. And to-day nobody dined here by my folks so there
is nothing to be superadded.
'*This man was a relation of the Macbells. See also loth Day and 22ad Day.
28o Lady Anne.
The 19th Day. Being Sunday, Palm Sunday, and this morning I
had a violent fitt of the wind, so that it caused me to fall into a swoning
fitt for above half an hour together so as I thought I should have died,
but it pleased God, I recovered, and was better afterwards. And
to-day there dined without with my folks in the Painted Room Mr.
Grasty, our Parson, and my two Farmers, so after dinner they came
into my Chamber and Mr. Grasty said Common Prayers and read a
Chapter and sang a Psalm as usual on Sundajrs to me and my Family,
and after Prayers they all went away.
I went not out of the House nor out of my Chamber this day.
20th Day. I remembered how this day was 60 years did I and my
blessed mother in Brougham Castle give in our answer in writing
that we would not stand to the award the four Lord Chief Judges
meant to make concerning the lands of mine inheritance, which did
spin out a great deal of trouble to us, yet God turned it to the best.
Deut., c. 23, V. 5. " Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not
hearken unto Balaam, but the Lord thy God turned the Curse into a
Blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee."
The 2ist Day. I went not out all this day.
The 22nd Day the Countess of Pembroke died [in another hand-
writing].
At the end of these pages, we have a final entry in yet another
hand, describing her decease, and reading thus : —
" Thus far of this book is a summary of the Countess of Pembroke's,
containing a continued, thankful commemoration, as her honour
hath often said, of God's great mercies and blessings to her and hers,
and were written by her ladyship of her direction but she proceeded
not farther, for on Sunday, the 19th March, 1676, it pleased Almighty
God to visit her with sickness which wrought so sharply with her
all that day and Monday that on Tuesday she was forced to keep her
bed, and Wednesday, the 22nd, about 6 o'clock in the afternoon,
after she had endured all her pains with a most Christian fortitude,
always answering those that asked her how she did, with, " I thank
God I am very well," which were her last words directed to mortals,
she, with much cheerfulness, in her own chamber in Brougham Castle,
wherein her noble father was born, and her blessed mother died,
5^elded up her precious soul into the hands of her merciful Redeemer."
mtlg Buh liSE^nbattts.
of a
;var
I 1670,
Mary = Sir
1651-1674. I WilliamWalter
Bart., ob. 1693
I 1673,
Anne = Sir Samuel
1654-1713. I Grimston, 1700
I as his second
wife.
LordCompton,
born 1648 and
died a few days
afterwards.
William
Lord Compton
1653-1661.
Anne
1655-1660.
Isabella,
1656-1657.
John,
ob. 1686.
Thomas,
ob. 1694-
John,
ob. 1691.
I 1722.
Sackville, = Mary Savile,
7th Earl of 1700-175 1.
Thanet, daughter of
1688-1753. William,
2nd Marquis of
Halifax,
ob. 1700.
Wilbraham
Catherine,
Mary,
Anne Hatton,
John Thomas
ob. 1731.
ob. 1785.
1668-1743.
William,
She married.
06. 1754-
Elizabeth,
John,
1685, Daniel
ob, 1746.
died in infancy
Earl of Not-
tingham and
Margaret,
Thomas,
Winchelsea
ob. 1758.
ob. 1733.
Christian ,
John,
ob. 1746,
ob, 1727.
Margaret Hatton,
1670-1674.
' ^^.L Lllt^
i^ui ji Apm, ana ixt Appleby, sne
imes,
ord Compton
59-1662.
Alethea = Sir E. Hungerford.
1660/1-1678.
No issue.
zabeth.
William Walter,
1671-1692,
unmarried.
Mary Walter,
1672/3 married
Sir Robert Rich,
Bart., and had
John Walter,
1673/4-1732,
3rd Bart.
Robert Walter,
1674-1731.
4th Bart.
Edward Grimston
1674-1674.
Mary Grimston ,
1675-
yieided up her preaous soui iiuo ni>. .^^..^
The Last Few Months of Lady Anne's Life. 281
To this may be added some words from a document in the British
Museum, which is probably in the handwriting of the Mr. Fisher who
made the summary now amongst the Harleian MSS. Alluding to
Lady Anne, it says that when " she came to live in the North, her
delight was to remove herself and family from one of her castles to
another, where she had the comfort of having her daughters and
grandchildren often coming to stay with her, and she always set down
in her diary the exact time they came, and in what rooms they lay
whilst they stayed, and in this settled abode, in her ancient houses
of her inheritance, she more and more fell in love with the content-
ments and innocent pleasures of a country life, which humour of hers
she wished with all her heart, if it pleased God, might be conferred
on her posterity, for, said she, ' a wise body ought to make their
homes the place of self-fruition.' "
She had attained the great age of 86 years, but to her own age, she
had ever made little allusion. To a great extent she ignored the
passing years, as long as she was able to carry out with strength and
pertinacity her intentions. She does certainly refer in 1653 to the
fact that she had then attained to what she calls the " climacteric
age of sixty-three," and once more, in another place in her diary,
speaks of " the strange and marvellous providence of God, that she,
at the great age of seventy-three, should be able to lie in her chamber,
where she had not been since she was a child of eight weeks old until
then." She was in that instance referring to her residence at Barden
Tower. In another entry she just alludes in passing to her old age,
when she was residing at Brougham. She speaks of the strange and
hard fortunes " in the sea of this world," with which she had struggled,
and then contemplates the mercies of God, delivering her from so
many evils " in this my old age to live happily and peaceably in these
ancient places of mine inheritance." Finally in her letter to Lord
Arlington (see Chapter XVI.) of February 6th, 1668, she mentions
that she was 78 years old. With all her love of reminding herself of
anniversaries, the one that as a rule she steadily ignored was her own
birthday, regarding the question of her actual age as one of small
importance, compared with the remembrance of the different events
through which she had passed.
Her funeral took place on the 14th of April, and at Appleby. She
282 Lady Anne.
was buried in the tomb which she had herself erected for that purpose
in the Church of St. Lawrence, Appleby. It is stated that there was
a vast attendance at the interment, aU her neighbours, and almost
every land-owner in Westmoreland and Cumberland, either being
present in person, or represented, and that the procession was of
enormous length, for the whole of her tenantry took part in it. Neither
Lord nor Lady Thanet were able to be there, the chief mourner being
her favourite grandson, John Tufton. The sermon on the occasion
was preached by Edward Rainbow, then Bishop of Carlisle, and it
is said to have taken nearly three hours in delivery. More or less
it is an eulogy of the deceased lady, but we obtEiin from it many pieces
of important information concerning her character.
Bishop Rainbow when he preached the sermon was sixty-eight
years old. He published three sermons, one dedicated to Sir John
Wray, Bart., and his brother, the second preached at the funeral of
Susannah, Countess of Suffolk, May 13th, 1649, ^^^ the third, the
one preached at the funeral of Lady Anne. This latter has been
reprinted more than once, but the best issue of it appeared in the
Carlisle Tracts, issued in 1839, ^-nd it has appended to it a brief account
of Lady Anne, with her portrait, and a memoir of the Bishop.
Lady Anne's will was made only two years before her decease.
It is a lengthy document, and is given in full in the Appendix. It
bequeaths to her daughter, Lady Thanet, who was her only remaining
child, a life interest in the whole of the estates, entailing them, after
her decease, to her grandson, John Tufton, and then in succession to
his brothers, Richard, Thomas and SackviUe, and afterwards to the
eldest son, Nicholas, Lord Thanet, " whom " says she, " I name in the
last place, not for any want of affection or goodwill in my thoughts
towards him, but because he is now, by the death of his father, pos-
sessed of a great inheritance in the southern parts."
After his death, the estates were to pass to her grandchildren in
entail, starting with Lady Margaret Coventry, then descending to
Lady Cecily Hatton's children, thence to other grandchildren, and
finally to Alethea, the only remaining child of her younger daughter
Isabella. Lady Thanet only lived for two years after her mother's
death, and by her will of 1676, she repeated her mother's instructions
with respect to her second son, making every effort that the estate
The Last Few Months of Lady Anne's Life. 283
should go down to him. All, however, was of no avail, for imme-
diately upon the decease of his mother, Nicholas, Lord Thanet, took
possession of the whole of the estate, and claimed that the entail
which had been made in previous years, entitled him to hold the
whole property, as the eldest son, to the exclusion of his brother.
There is a curious piece of evidence to be seen concerning the dispute
which ensued. He presented to John Coates of Kildwick Grange,
and to Roger Coates his brother, of Royd House, who were both of
them attomejrs, sets of silver beakers, because they had " well and
carefully" assisted him in "recovering his estates in Craven which
were forcibly held by his brother, Sir John Tufton, and especially
by prevailing upon the tenants of Selsden to pay their manorial fines
to him." The set of beakers presented to Mr. John Coates had Lord
Thanet's arms engraved upon them, those given to Mr. Roger Coates
were plainer, and the first were in the possession of the Swire family
(descendants from Mr. John Coates) in 1878, but I have not been
able to trace their existence down to the present day. Those who
have descended from the Swire family say that they do not now possess
them.
Nicholas, Lord Thanet, not only took possession of the estate, but
held it to the exclusion of his brother. He, however, was only in
possession of the property for three years, for in 1679 he died, and
was succeeded by the brother John whom he had defrauded of his
rights. By this time, the estates had considerably increased in
importance, because in 1678, Lady Alethea, the only surviving child
of Lady Anne's second daughter Isabella, who was then wife of Sir
E. Hungerford, also died, leaving no issue, and her share of the estates,
with her jointure and portion, devolved upon the new Lord Thanet,
who now came actually into the possession of the entire property
as originally held by Lady Anne, her own jointures from her two
husbands having of course ceased. He was, however, only able to
hold this vast property for five months, and a considerable part of
this time was taken up in the legal arrangements necessary for the
transfer of Lady Alethea's part of the estate, inasmuch as she had
died just before he succeeded. John, fourth Lord Thanet, died in
1680, and leaving no issue, was succeeded by his next brother Richard,
who became fifth Earl. He held the property for four years only, and
284 Lady Anne.
then came Thomas, the sixth Earl, who, as a man of forty, had married
a girl of eighteen. Lady Katherine, the daughter and heir of Henry,
Duke of Newcastle. The marriage was one of extreme happiness,
and Thomas, Lord Thanet, declared, when his wife died, that it had
been almost inconceivable to him that any woman could have made
him so happy, or that so much happiness could have been the portion
of any two persons. He held the estates for forty years, for he did
not die until 1729. He was successful in the claim he made against
the House of Lords with respect to the ancient barony of Clifford.
It was declared to have been possessed by his grandmother, and that
his father and three brothers had aU been entitled to it. He accord-
ingly became eighteenth Lord Clifford, in addition to being sixth
Earl of Thanet. He outlived his only other brother, SackviUe, and
was in consequence succeeded in the Earldom by that brother's son,
again a SackviUe, who became the seventh Earl. His own children
were all daughters, Katherine, Aime, Margaret, Mary and Isabella,
the only three sons, John, Thomas, and John, having died in infancy.
The barony of CUfford, as mentioned in another chapter, fell into
abey£ince between the daughters, being eventually called out in favour
of Margaret, Lady Lovell, and afterwards Countess of Leicester.
The earldom, however, passed, as we have stated, to his nephew,
from him to his son SackviUe, who became the eighth Earl, and then
to three of his sons in succession, SackviUe, Charles, and Henry ; the
last-named being the eleventh and last Earl of Thanet, and on his
decease in 1845, that title became extinct.
1629.
John = Lady Margaret,
1609-
1664,
II. Earl.
d, and heir of
Richard, Earl
of Dorset; ob.
1676, by Lady
Ann Clifford.
112-1634
b. 1635
:, 06. 1617
I 1664.
Nicholas = Elizabeth,
III Earl:
1631-1679
and isth
Lord
Clifford.
d. of
Richard,
Earl of
Burling-
ton, ob.
"7*5-
18.
1670.
1673.
Christopher,
George,
Mary, = Sir William
Anne = Sir Samuel
Viscount
1650-1670.
1651- Walter,
1654- Grimston,
Hatton,
unmarried.
1674. Bart., ob.
1713. Bart.
1666-1706.
1693.
I 1709.
Catherine, = Edward
1692-1733.
Viscount
Sondes, M.P.,
ob. 1722.
Lewis,
II. Earl of
Rockingham,
1709-1749.
Thomas,
3rd Earl
Rockinghi
J7I5-I74S
ob. 1628
09-
Catherine,
ob. 1731.
Elizabeth,
ob. 1746.
Margaret,
ob. 1758.
Christian,
ob. 1746.
John,
ob. 1734.
AE. 9.
Mary, ob. 17B5.
John, died in in-
fancy.
Thomas, ob. 1733.
Joim, ob 1 727.
1792.
Caroline, = John
1771-1832
Foster
Barham,
ob. 1832.
issue.
John,
I 773- I 799.
William,
I777-I78fi.
285
CHAPTER XVI.
THE WALPOLE LETTER.
THE one story of Lady Anne that is known to all the world
relates to the celebrated letter which she is said to have
written either to Lord Arlington or to Sir Joseph Williamson,
for the statement is made about both persons. Almost every book
of reference that alludes to Lady Anne speaks of this letter, generally
in terms of praise, and it has been cited as a striking example of her
determination (and incidentally of her disregard of courtesy), as well as
a fine example of a laconic, stern, decisive letter. It forms the subject
of an important chapter in a work on Rhetoric, and several authors
who have written on the art of letter-writing have referred, and with
some enthusiasm to it. It first appeared in English literature in 1753,
in the issue of The World,^ for April 5th, and, according to the printed
inscription inside vol. xiv., that particular issue was entirely the
work of Mr. Horace Walpole. It was ptiblished of course by Dodsley
of Pall Mall. In the course of an article on letters, Walpole writes
thus : — "As a contrast to this scrap of Imperial folly, I shall present
my readers with the other letter I mention. It was written by the
Lady Anne, widow of the Earls of Dorset and Pembroke (the life of
the former of whom she wrote) and heiress of the great houses of Clifford
and Cumberland, from which, among many noble reversions, she
enjoyed the borough of Appleby. Sir Joseph Williamson, Secretary
of State to Charles II., wrote to name a candidate to her for that
borough. The brave Countess, with all the spirit of her ancestors,
and all the eloquence of independent Greece, returned this laconic
answer : —
" I have been bullied by a usurper, I have been neglected by a Court, but I
will not be dictated to by a subject. Your man shan't stand. —
Anne Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery."
ip.M., 629 I, 4, XIV, 84.
286 Lady Anne.
The story is an interesting one, and the letter remarkable for its
abruptness and discourtesy, but more than one author has raised
serious doubts about its authenticity. Walpole does not say that he
possessed it, and surely he would have done so if he had it in his
portfolios. He does not even say that he had seen it. Sir Joseph
Williamson moreover was not Secretary of State until 1674, and
during the period of time from the date of his appointment to the
death of the Countess, there does not appear to have been any vacancy
in the representation of Appleby. Again, Walpole says that Lady
Anne wrote the life of the Earl of Dorset. He is the only person who
makes that statement, and we have nothing to corroborate it. She
certainly, as we have already seen, referred many times to her husband
in her diary, but there is no scarp of evidence either in English literature
or amongst the papers at Knole, to indicate that she had written his
life. The writer of the article on Lady Anne in the Dictionary of
National Biography carefully points out that no reference to the
original letter was given at the time of its first publication, which was
seventy-seven years after the death of the Countess, not has any trace
of it been discovered since, and alludes to other discrepancies which
make it probable that the letter is not authentic.
Lodge also, in 1791,^ questioned the authenticity of the letter, and
he, as well as a later author, based their chief objections upon its
phraseology. Into the question of this phraseology I have made
careful investigations, and upon the authority of Sir James Murray,
and of other learned writers, am in a position to state that there is no
known use of the word " bully," as a verb earlier than 1723, when
Defoe, in one of his works, says that a certain person began " to bully "
someone else. The word is also used as a verb in the Gentleman' s
Magazine in 1747, and the word " bullied " once appears in Richard-
son's " Clarissa Harlow " in 1748, and also in a letter from Doctor
Johnson in 1783. But although the noun, " bully " was perfectly
well known and in frequent use in the seventeenth century, no one
has been able to trace its use as a verb at that time.
Again, one can find no use of the word " stand," by itself, as Walpole
quotes it " Your man shan't stand." There are a few seventeenth
^Illustrations of British History, 179', B.M. g$o2, h, 6,
The Walpole Letter. 287
century uses of the word, but always in conjunction with another
word, such as in the phrases " stand for," " stand in " and " stand by."
This is especially the case when Lord Roos in 1676 said that he should
" stand for " Leicester, and that he should " stand as " the candidate,
but the use of the word " stand " alone, belongs to a very much later
period than that of Lady Anne.
Finally, as to the phraseology, it may be pointed out that Lady Anne
was hardly likely to have said " Your man shan't stand," because
she could not have prevented him from doing so. She might have
prevented him from being elected, but it was surely absolutely beyond
her power to prevent him from standing as a candidate. As a matter
of fact, the man to whom the actual letter applied did stand as the
candidate for the borough, although he was not elected.
In the Public Record Office, moreover, there is the explanation of
the whole matter. In it are preserved a quantity of Williamson
documents, and these, supplemented by other Williamson documents
at Queen's College, and by two papers amongst the Skipton MSS.,
enable me to set forth the whole story of the Williamson candidature,
and I hope to explode the bubble upon which this celebrated letter
rests.
Sir Joseph Williamson was not the person to whom the letter was
addressed, but he himself was the candidate for the borough of Appleby,
and was particularly desirous of being elected for that place. There
was a vacancy in 1668, owing to the decease of Mr. Lowther, and as
Appleby was close to Williamson's native county of Cumberland,
such family influence as he possessed could be brought to bear upon
the proposal. He was at that time private secretary to Lord Arhngton,
Secretary of State, and he was Keeper of the State papers, and editor
of the Gazette. He had also on his side two influential persons in the
district, the Bishop of Durham and Colonel Tempest. His particular
friend in Appleby seems to have been a Dr. Smith, who is spoken of
as the brother of the Mayor. He was resident in Durham, and on
the 6th of December, wrote to Sir Joseph to the following effect.^
" I have been told the Bishop is more inclined to yield than formerly
to the desires of the country of sending up knights and burgesses to
Parliament on condition, however, that they will hearken to his
°S,P. Dom. Car. ii, 234-$2.
288 Lady Anne.
recommendation in the choice of the persons. I am extremely glad,"
he goes on to say, " he has you in his eye for one, and hope he will
manage the affair so that it shall not miscarry, but to make short
work, I advise you to gain Colonel Tempest as your friend, for, under
the rose, he is the factotum here, both in town and country. If you
secure him ,your work is done . " He then tells Sir Joseph that although
his own interest is very small, it wiU be employed to the utmost to
serve him.
On the loth of the same month,* he writes again, congratulating
Sir Joseph upon having " made an interest " in Colonel Tempest, but
impresses upon him the fact that the Colonel is, in his opinion, " a
subtle man," and that he must get a real hold of him as quickly as
possible. He says that if Colonel Tempest is firm, and the Bishop
is also firm, the business " will be done." He speaks of having told
but one other person about the whole matter, but says that he has
taken every fitting occasion to speak to the townspeople respecting
Sir Joseph, and to give him a good character. It must be remembered
that the Bishop of Durham, as Prince Palatine, had great influence,
and that Colonel Tempest was a large and important landowner, but
it would rather seem as though Sir Joseph at that moment was thinking
of a Durham or Cumberland seat, rather than of a Westmoreland one.
However, by January, 1668, there were steady preparations made
with a view to his obtaining the seat for the borough of Appleby,
but the moment Lady Anne heard a suggestion that a stranger should
occupy the seat, she sent word to the Mayor and Corporation of
Appleby that they were not to commit themselves in any way until
she had communicated with them. There is a letter in existence from a
Mr. Thomas Povey * to Sir Joseph, dated January i6th, and written
from Appleby. It is clear that he had been approached with a view to
obaining the influence of Lord St. John, in order that he should write
to Lady Anne, because it was recognised that she had the chief voice
in the election. Lord St. John, however, had already written on behalf
of someone else, and he had understood that Lady Anne had already
committed herself. On the same day, Mr. John Dalston * of Acorn Bank
wrote to Williamson, to say that he had been to see the Mayor and Cor-
poration of Appleby, that he had told them of Sir Joseph's desire to
*S.P. Dom, Car. n, 224-115. ^ Ibid., 232-147. ^ Ibid., 232-148.
The Walpole Letter. 289
serve them as burgess, but they had at once shown him the letter from
Lady Anne, in which she had requested them to suspend any engage-
ment until they heard from her. He says that they wished to gratify
her, and thought that the party (whom she was going to name) was
her grandchild John Tufton. Mr. Dalston goes on to say that there
will be " many competitors," that all " will apply to the Countess,"
that " her request will prevail more than any others," but he teUs
Sir Joseph that, if she does not name anyone, he is to apply to Dr.
Smith, the Mayor's brother (with whom, we have already seen, he
was in communication) and to Mr. Gabetis, the under-sheriff.
Then comes an important letter from Lady Anne herself,' addressed
to Sir Joseph Williamson. It is from Brougham, dated January
i6th, 1667-8, and the address, superscription and signature, are in
her own writing, while the body of the letter, evidently dictated by
her, is in the handwriting of George Sedgwick. It is in exceedingly
courteous terms. She says: —
I received your letter of the i ith of this month by the last post, as also my
cousin Mr. John Dalston of Acorn Bank his designs to me, to the same effect
on your behalf, that I would employ my interest at Appleby to procure you to
be chosen burgess there in the place of my cousin John Lowther, lately deceased.
I should have been very willing, Sir, to have done you service therein, but that
I had a prior engagement upon me, both for my own grandchildren in the
southern parts, and some of my own kindred and friends in this, which I hope
you will take in good part, as a reasonable apology for myself in this business.
Sir,
Your assured friend,
(Signed) Anne Pembroke.
The letter is addressed to " Mr. Secretary Williamson, at the Court
at Whitehall." It appears to have been carried about in Sir Joseph's
pocket, because he has made more than one memorandum upon it.
He seems to have commenced one note, which he did not finish,
" That wheras &c." and in another place alludes to the equipment in
sending to sea of a " Fleet of ships for the defence of the Spanish Low
Countries," or any " war that may ensue therefrom." He has folded
the paper lengthwise, and on the exterior has put the date, a number,
and a statement to the effect that it was from the Countess of Pembroke.
\§.F. Dom. Car. ii, 149
ago Lady Anne.
This courteous letter sufficiently, we think, disposes of the statement
that the letter to which Walpole alludes was addressed to Williamson
himself.
Meantime, Lady Anne had written to her daughter concerning her
three sons, desiring that one of them should take up this position.
On the other hand, the supporters of Sir Joseph WilHamson had also
been busy. They had been writing a great many letters, for in one
case it states that the magistrates many of them " sat up all night
writing letters," * and the whole county, as far as their personal
predilections were concerned, appears to have desired to have their
own neighbour from Bridekirk as their representative. Lady Anne
was also approached by two or three of her neighbours. The day
after she had written to Sir Joseph, she wrote from the same place
(Brougham Castle) to Sir George Fletcher,' at Hutton, acknowledging
receipt of a letter from him. She says : —
I have riceived your letter of the 15th instant, and as to your desire therein
concerning the election of Mr. Williamson as a burgess for Appleby, in the place
of my deceased cousin, John Lowther, I have already given an answer by letter
to Mr. Williamson that I am engaged for some of my own grandchildren, who
are capable of the place, if they will accept of it, so as, till 1 know their resolves,
I cannot determine any way concerning it, and so, wishing much happiness to
you and your worthy Lady and your children, I commit you to the Divine
Protection of the Almighty, and rest. Sir,
Your assured true friend and humble servant,
(Signed) Anne Pembroke.
Meantime, Lord Arlington is believed to have written to her, perhaps
through Lord Anglesey or Lady Thanet, and as I have no copy of
his letter nor of her reply, it may be argued that the letter Walpole
quotes was a possible reply from her to him, but I think that this
position cannot be accepted in view of a letter to be presently
mentioned, which I know Lady Anne herself wrote to Lord Arlington.
What Lady Anne said, about this time, to her daughter. Lady Thanet,
we do not know in its entirety. There is only a small scrap of paper,
about five inches by two and a half, cut out of a letter, which now
remains at the Record Office. It is, however, important, for it shows
that Lady Anne had written to Lord Arlington, although possibly
* g.P. Dom. Car. :i, 232-191. » Ibid., 11, 232-160,
The Walpole Letter. 291
not direct, and that Lady Thanet had also made a request concerning
Sir Joseph. The little bit ^" reads thus : —
I have also sent you, herein enclosed, a copy of the letter which I lately sent
to my Lord Arlington, in answer of one I had from him in the behalf of Mr.
Joseph Williamson concerning the said burgess-ship, whereby you may perceive
I intend not to recede from my first resolves, and if you think fit, you may
acquaint my Lord of Anglesey so much in answer to that note of his which I
received in your letter, wherewith I hope his Lordship (whose civilities to you
I do own with aU due thankfulness) will rest well satisfied, and the rather, because
the said Mr. Williamson, being, it should seem, a person of eminent ingenuity
and having so many wealthy friends, cannot miss a burgess-ship elsewhere
upon another vacancy.
This scrap of paper is in George Sedgwick's handwriting, and it
shows us that Lord Anglesey had taken up the matter, had been
courteous to Lady Thanet, and had asked her to write to her mother,
which she had done. It also tells us, that in the letter a copy of Lady
Anne's reply to Lord Arlington had been enclosed. It is not dated, but
the State Paper Of&cials regard it (from other evidence) as having been
written on January 17th,
Then, in course of chronological sequence, we come upon other
letters to Sir Joseph. His own brother ^^ writes to him on the i8th
of January, to say that the town of Appleby had assured Lady Anne
that " they wiU elect whom she pleases," and they consider that if
her grandchUd resigns, she will think him as " fit as any other candidate'
so that he will have a good chance if Mr. Tufton can be persuaded to
withdraw. George Williamson says that the whole town was for his
brother, " if," he adds, " they may have their own mind," but he
mentions that Sir John Lowther has approached Lady Aime concerning
his nephew, Anthony, in case neither of the Tuftons would serve.
From Kendal there came a letter from Mr. Fleming, ^^ in which he
tells Sir Joseph that Sir George Fletcher had written to the Countess
and to Mr. Dalston, that the Countess is being " well plied with letters,"
but that he is afraid to write to Sir Richard Sandford, in case that it
might put him in mind of standing for the position himself. Fleming
enclosed with his letter two copies, one was a letter ^* from the Justices,
"S.P. Dom. Car. ii, 232-161. ^ Ibid., 232-168.
^ Ibid., i6g. ^ Ibid., i6g, I.
2g2 Lady Anne.
signed by himself and three others, saying that they support the wish
of Williamson to be burgess of Appleby, and saying that it was likely
to be " a great advantage for the Corporation," the other was Lady
Anne's letter " in reply to this petition. In it she informs the magis-
trates that she was already " engaged to the three younger sons of
her daughter, Lady Thanet," and if they refuse, to other of her kindred,
and she says that she has written to Sir Joseph to that effect.
Dated the very next day, there is a letter from Sir George Fletcher ^^
to Secretary Williamson, telling him that he had used his influence
with Lady Pembroke, and had failed, and advising Sir Joseph to write
to Lord Thanet and see whether he could bring any influence to bear
upon Lady Anne. It evidently occurred to some of the oflicials that,
as Mr. Tufton, who appeared to be a likely candidate, had been at
one time a pupil to Sir Joseph, some pressure might be brought to
bear upon him, with a view to his withdrawing in favour of the
Secretary.
Dr. Smith also wrote to Sir Joseph thus : —
'■" The whole county wishes to have you chosen. The Countess has pitched
upon Mr. Tufton, a quondam pupil of yours, and they of Appleby, having so
absolute a dependence upon her, it would be vain to strive against that stream.
If Mr. Tufton could be taken off, the work is done. I have written to him and
to his brothers, if the town could be left to its free choice, it is a good opportunity
to benefit itself.
He also encloses a copy " in his letter. It is a petition from the
Sheriff of Cumberland and ten of the magistrates, assembled at
quarter sessions, and is addressed to Lady Anne, recommending Sir
Joseph Williamson as a burgess, saying that he was " their country-
man," that he had " grand opportunities to serve his country," that
" his sole dependence was on her favour."
Sir Joseph also appears to have himself approached the Lowthers,
but Sir John wrote to him,i8 regretting that he had not written at an
earlier date, and saying that as his kinsman Anthony wished to succeed
his late son, he had already applied on his behalf to Lady Anne, and
she had consented to support Anthony Lowther if none of her own
grandchildren would come forward. He was therefore quite unable
to help the Secretary in his candidature.
"S.P. Dom. Car. ii, 169, 11. w Ibid., 332-180.
w IMd., 191. " JMd., 191, I. 18 jm., 192.
The Walpole Letter. 293
Now we come to an important communication. It is clear, from
what has already been stated that Lord Arlington had already applied
to Lady Anne, but probably he had not done so personally, for Lady
Thanet's letter would almost imply that the application had been
made through Lord Anglesey or through her, but on the 25th of
January, from Whitehall, Lord Arlington writes himself to Brougham
Castle, a charming and courteous letter : —
Madam,^'
I am become a suitor to your Ladyship in the behalf of Mr. Joseph Williamson,
my secretary, a gentleman who hath deserved so well from me that I cannot
but be concerned, with some other friends of his, who are very desirous to see
him a member in this Parliament. I have heard of the influence your Ladyship
hath on the borough of Appleby (where a burgess's place is lately become void
by the death of Mr. John Lowther) and of the general inclination of the gentle-
men of the country and those of the corporation, and to the gaining so much
of your ladyship's favour as may render him as capable, as they hold him
worthy, of their voices or their assistance, they having a value of him, as he is
of their country, and who by his civility, and good interests here at Court,
hath been very happy to oblige them. I would desire, and he very humbly
seeks it, that he may owe this obligation principally to your Ladyship's good
graces towards him, to be expressed only by your Ladyship's declaration to the
town that you leave the election to their freedom, which may sufficiently preserve
your Ladyship's interests and there nobly oblige the electors and Mr. Williamson.
I shall forbear to give any further character of him here, not doubting but that
he hath been justly represented to your Ladyship as a person of eminent
ingenuity, and use to His Majesty, as well as to his friends, for whom I shall be
glad to merit when my services shall be useful to your Ladyship or any of your
family, I being already. Madam,
Your Ladyship's most humble servant,
Arungton.
It is inconceivable, knowing what we do of Lady Anne, that in
reply to this delightful letter, she should have sent the rude epistle
which Walpole quotes, but at the outset it is a Uttle puzzUng to know
why her reply to this letter does not appear to have been sent until
the 6th of February. This, however, she explains in the letter.
Meantime, it is clear that someone had told Lady Anne that Lord
Arlington had an idea that her action had been suggested by her
daughter, Lady Thanet, and that she was not acting on her own
»S.P. Dom. Car, ii, a33-55.
m
LadV Anne.
responsibility. On the 6th of February, she herself replies to Lord
ArUngton, and expressly states that her letter is in reply to his of
January 25th. There is therefore no room for surmise whether any
laconic epistle such as Walpole gives had been addressed to him in
the interval in reply to his courteous letter. Lady Anne's reply*" is
exactly what one would have expected her to have said. It reads
thus : —
My Lord,
I had the honour to receive a letter from your Lordship dated at Whitehall
the 25th of the last month, but it came not to my hands till the 3rd of this month,
and then I meant to have returned an answer to it by that post, but he was gone
before I could do so, which made me commit the incivility of deferring it till now.
I must confess to your Lordship that it was myself, and not my daughter of
Thanet, nor any of her children, that made me attempt the making of one of
her younger sons a burgess for Appleby, she having four that are all of them
past 21 years old a piece, and are capable and fit for it, so that I think I am
bound in honour and conscience to strive to maintain my own deed as far forth
as it lies in my power, but if it should happen otherwise, I will submit to it with
patience, but will never jdeld my consent. I know very well how powerful a
man a Secretary of State is, throughout all our King's dominions, so I am con-
fident your Lordship, by your favour and recommendations, might quickly
help this Mr. Joseph Williamson to a burgess-ship, without doing wrong or
discourtesy to a widow that wants but 2 of fourscore years old, and to her
grandchildren, whose father and mother suffered as much in their worldly
fortunes for the King as most of his Majesty's subjects did.
And so, committing your Lordship to the Divine Protection of the Almighty,
I rest, my Lord,
Your Lordship's humble servant,
(Signed) Anne Pembroke.
The concluding sentence, signature and superscription for this
letter are in Lady Anne's own handwriting, the rest was written by
Mr. Sedgwick. It is addressed " To The Right Honourable the Lord
Arlington, one of His Majesty's chief Secretaries of State, in the
Lodgings in the Court at Whitehall," and sejiled by the Clifford seal.
Nothing could have been more delightful, and at the same time,
nothing could have been more determined, and it may be suggested
that perhaps the terms in which the old lady states that she will never
^'S.P. Dom. Cat. n, 234-91.
To face page 294.
PART OF A LETTER
TO LADY THANET
covering a cop\- of Ladv
Anne's letter to Lord
Arlington, January, i568
(see page 200).
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■li/tIM
ii(
LAUY A^■XE TO LoKD ARLINGTON,
concerning Sir Joseph Wifliamson, February (5th, i668
(see page 294).
To face page 295.
^
\fl
.)
1 ' --^M
i
LADY ANNE TO SIR aEORGE FLETCHER,
January 17th, 1668 (see page 290).
r.-^-n
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r ■
-1,-1
iff'
i» f'V ir'^t
(J i6c^ 161Q
"- (■
LADY ANNE TO SIR JOSEPH WILLIAMSON,
January i6th, 1667 (see page 289).
The Walpole Letter. 295
yield her consent, may have been the starting point for the legend
whio evidently grew into the letter quoted by Walpole.
Meantime, strenuous efforts were being made in Cumberland and
in Westmoreland. Dr. Smith wrote on the 26th of January from
Cockermouth ^^ telling Sir Joseph that his friends would be firm to
the last, that they would work with all diligence, and that they would
not give over until they were beaten. He says that applications
were daily made on his behalf to Lady Anne, who, he adds " has the
power of life and death in the matter." Then he goes on to say
" It will be impossible for you to succeed, unless her grandchildren
the Tuftons can be prevailed with to desist. You must apply your
intelligence, therefore, and use some means to delay sending down
the writ for a new election. In fine, do your own work above, and
let us alone with it here."
Daniel Fleming of Rydal wrote on the 27th of January^^ to Sir Joseph
telling the same story. He says " Unless you can be able to fix my
Lady for you, which I fear wiU be hard to do, you'll have a cold appear-
ance of the electors of Appleby, since I am informed they dare not
go any way but that which is chalked them out by my Lady, she is
(I believe) as absolute in that borough as any are in any other."
He recommends Sir Joseph to apply to Lady Thanet, and to try to
get Lady Anne to be " neuter," and then says that he is confident
he wiU carry the election.
The Secretary's brother George,^ who writes the very same day
from Bridekirk to his brother, conveys the unwelcome intelligence
that Thomas Tufton had decided to stand. He says that " John and
Richard were out of town," but "Thomas returned her Ladyship thanks
for the honour, and declared if his two brothers refused it he would
not, but stand for it," and he says that Lady Anne thereupon sent
one of her Gentlemen to Sir John Lowther, asking him to desist for
his cousin, and declaring " her interest for that Gentleman of her
grandchildren " who decided to be the candidate. " But," he adds
" the town is all for you and most of the gentry and persons of quality
in the barony," and speaking in blunter language than the other
correspondents, adds "They have left no stone unturned for you
with the old woman but all to no purpose for she is resolved
i^S.P. Dom. Car. ii, 233-79. ^ Ihid., 233-84. ^ IMd. 233-85.
296 Lady Ann!;.
wholly to stand for her grandchildren." He mentions that Sir Richard
Sandford of Howgill Castle had decided after all to become a Candi-
date, as had been feared would be the case, and at the conclusion of
his letter says that he is sending up to his brother two char pies, , one
for him, and the other for a friend, and adds " there is no good to
be done with an old woman."
A couple of days after, he writes again to his brother,^* to similar
effect, again recommending that Lady Thanet should be asked to
withdraw her two sons from the candidature, but says that the town
and the gentry were heartily wishing that Lady Anne " would leave
them to their liberty," and he encloses in his letter a copy ^* of one
from Lady Anne's secretary, George Sedgwick, who was evidently
himself a little predisposed in favour of Sir Joseph, but who says,
" I must confess that Lady Pembroke appearing so strongly and firmly
for her relations, I am forced to acquiesce and submit to that, above
aU interests whatsoever."
There is another letter from Dr. Smith, 2* giving the same information,
and reminding him that Lady Anne wrote immediately after Ml.
John Lowther died, to the Mayor and Corporation, warning them that
she intended " to recommend one of her own grandchildren, or one of
herrelations for the seat." He says that there is not the slightest
use in going in opposition to her.
A Latin note,^' which does not bear any date, appears amongst
the papers, stating that the writ for Appleby had been issued, but that
the writer of it, whose name is not given, was only ready to deliver
it to the Sheriff of Cumberland when Sir Joseph desired it should be
sent. It was evidently being held back in order that all possible
pressure should be brought to bear upon the Tufton sons, but it was
not desirable that this information should be known, hence the note
was not written in English, and does not bear any signature.
Still the Secretary's brother pressed for an application to the Tuftons.
He writes on the 3rd of February,** " You should get the Tuftons to
decline and then leave it to me and others," and he says all the people
about there are doing their very utmost for his candidature.
Fleming writes from Rydal *' exactly to the same effect, saying that
M S.P. Dom. Car. ii, 233-177. ** Ibid., 233-ri7, i.
^ Ibid., lis. ^ Ibid., t6o.
^ Ibid., 234-36. a» /j^_^ 234-60.
The Walpole Letter. 297
the letter from the Cockermouth Quarter Sessions was being exten-
sively signed, and carried to Brougham in person, but that " the
Dowager Lady Thanet, or any of the Tuftons," should be got at, and
should be pressed to write to Lady Anne, and that, if all this was
impossible, the writ should be held back.
Again, an application was made to Lowther Castle, and Sir John,
then an old man,*" wrote to Sir Joseph sajdng that, with reference to
his kinsman, he was unwilling " that a pupil should seem to oppose
his tutor," adding that he was somewhat disposed in favour of Sir
Joseph's candidature, that his own influence was not being exercised
on behalf of his kinsman, but that all depended upon whether Mr.
Tufton could be persuaded to decline. The same thing appears in a
letter from Dr. Smith which was written from Hutton on the 5th of
February.'^ He had seen Sir George Fletcher, who had waited upon
Lady Anne, and she had shown him her letter to Lord Arlington.
He says, " The town, if left to themselves, are for you, but against
her, it cannot be expected they will ever do it."
At length the Tufton brothers made a decision, and this was conveyed
to Sir Joseph in a letter from his brother.** He says that he heis
heard that " John Tufton declined it, resolving of a country life,
Mr. Richard is for travelling, Mr. Thomas doth stand still for it,"
" but," he adds, " I perceive my Lord Arlington hath been with him
to resign to you, which is apprehended he would do, if he did not
lose my Lady's favour by it, and so far as I apprehend, this post brings
a letter to him not to desist, and further, I am confirmed she will
appear for Lowther, as yet there is no appearance further to the Mayor
and Aldermen, but Mr. Lowther relies upon my Lady's presentment."
" Dr. Smith," he goes on to say, " is agoing to make them more sensible
of her condition, that if Mr. Thomas Tufton refuse it, you may have
their second thoughts." He then adds a few words to show how
earnestly they were all working for him, although he says he somewhat
doubts whether Mr. Gabetis, who is the under-sheriff, is really in earnest
and whether he is not committed to Lady Anne. He considers that
" she is wilful," and he is pretty sure that, but for her firm letter to
her grandson, he would be almost willing to withdraw from the can-
so S.P. Dom. Car. n, 6i. *» IMd., 62. '* IMd., 63.
298 Lady Anne.
didature. He therefore urges his brother to try to see Thomas Tufton
before the letter from his grandmother reached him.
John Dalston of Acorn Bank ^^ wrote to exactly the same effect'
because Sir Philip Musgrave the Sheriff of Cumberland, had been
down to see Lady Anne about the matter, and had told him the result
of the interview.
Another correspondent, a Mr. Duckett,** also wrote in the same way.
He said that he found the town of Appleby " ready voluntarily " to
comply with Sir Joseph's desires, if they were only left to their liberty,
but he does not hold out any hope of such liberty being given them.
A few days afterwards, Fleming ^^ writes again to the secretary,
and sends up two char pies " his yearly present " to him by the carrier,
promising every possible assistance in the proposed election. With
regard to the pies, he says that the carriage of them is paid, and if
they did not arrive. Sir Joseph was to make inquiry for them. He
was sorry that they had not been sent before, but with his wife he
had been away from home. He says that he has a document in
readiness to present to the Corporation of Appleby, naming Williamson
for the position.
George Williamson '* also writes, and says, with regard to Lady
Anne, if " she is not to be wrought upon, the people are undone, and
they dare not help themselves," and he encloses in his letter a notable
communication from Dr. Smith ^' dated February 9th and addressed
to him, in which he mentions that he had been at Acorn Bank with
Mr. Dalston, and that the next day was in Appleby, and found the
town, so far as the members of it were able to have " their own inclin-
ations " in favour of Sir Joseph, and in his opinion, if they were left
to their freedom, he would certainly carry the day, " but," he goes on
to say, " I doubt the Countess will never let it come to that, being
resolved to present one of them, and if none of her grandchildren will
accept of it, I am confident she will pitch on Mr. Anthony Lowther,
if she have not done it already, nay," he says, " I am told she hath
been heard to say that if they all refuse it, she will stand for it herself,*^
by which you may easily imagine what the issue is like to be." In his
3» S.P. Dom. Car. ii, 234-84. ^ Ibid., 92.
35 Ibid., 117. ^° Ibid., 234-118.
87 76^. 118 I. °* A foretaste of the Weman's Suffrage question I
The Walpole Letter. 299
final sentence he says that he will tell George Williamson more when
they meet, but he considers that this is enough " and too much for
the present. I am extremely sorry for it," he adds, " but see no
possibility of helping it."
It is clear from these letters that Lady Anne had made up her mind
that one of her grandchildren was to represent the place, and had written
to Thomas, who had been got at by Lord Arlington, telling him that
if he did not carry out her wishes, he would forfeit her regard.
Meantime, Anthony Lowther's candidature had been withdrawn.
Dalston of Acorn Bank,'® wrote on the 13th of February to say " I went
this morning to Lowther, to discourse with Sir John, whom I foimd in
bed, and not in good condition of health, but, by the little discourse
that passed, I perceived (that the night before) he had writ a letter to
you (in answer to one of yours) which (he told me) would very much
comply with what I then moved to him, and give you full satisfaction.
To move the Countess in anything that is averse to her own resolutions
(as Sir Philip Musgrave can tell you) would not only be labour in vain,
but even a prejudice to those should press it to her, but Sir John
Lowther, having her engagement for his cousin Anthony Lowther,
in case none of her own grandchildren did appear for the place, he
only may, and I hope wiU (if there be an opportunity for it) effectually
do your work with her, and therefore your further application to him
(if there be occasion for it) will (in my judgement) be not so amiss."
The letter to which Mr. Dalston alludes, as having been written by
Sir John Lowther, is also in existence,*" and reads thus : —
This day I had yours of the 8th instant, and I presume before this, you will
have received my last, being a full answer to this of yours, for I had taken off,
not only my cousin for whom I wrote you I stood first engaged, but prevented
the thoughts of any other of my nearer relations, in compliance to your desires.
But still I told you, and yet I do believe, that if my Lady continues still her
resolutions for some of her own relations, it's probable she will prevail, in what
she'd resolved upon, which I mention, not otherwise, but that you may know
better how to proceed or desist, as resolved that my interest shall not turn
to your prejudice, or be for any other than yourself after her, to whom I stood
obliged, when she first favoured me with her approbation after her own, but
to tell you truly my thoughts, I think she will neither desire, seek, nor need,
anybody's help to make whom she desires at this time, since I have had under
•• S. P. Dom. Car. n, 234-167. "> Ibid., i6t.
30o Lady Anne.
the Mayor's hand to myself, manifesting no less than their consent and
submission to her, which may manifest my clearness and readiness to approve
myself. Your very humble servant,
(Signed) John Lowther.
To this letter there is added a postscript in Lady Lowther's writing,
referring to the visit of Mr. Dalston. She says : —
Sir,
Since writing of this my cousin Dalston has been here, and my husband
being indisposed and in bed, could not add more than this signifieth, much was
in full of what you desired by my cousin Dalston before he came to move in it.
I beg your pardon for this scribble, and subscribe myself.
Your servant,
(Signed) E. Lowther.
No one appreciated more fully the determination of Lady Anne
than did her cousin Sir John Lowther. He reahsed that to try to
move her to do what she had determined she would not do was not
only useless, but unwise. She had made up her mind that one of her
grandchildren was to represent Appleby, and that, although he had
withdrawn the other candidate whom, in the absence of a Tufton,
she had proposed to support, and had made it quite clear that none
of the Lowthers would come forward, it had only strengthened her in
her determination that her grandchild should be the Member of
Parliament for the place, and she had insisted that he should carry
out the undertaking he had made to her to take his seat.
The only other letter which bears upon this interesting controversy,
is from Thomas Gabetis, Lady Anne's under-sheriff. It is addressed
to Sir Joseph Williamson, and is written from Appleby on the 23rd
of February .*!
What you found in my letter to my worthy friend Mr. Musgrave, that gave
you to believe me either worthy, or able to serve you in the present affair, was
no less but that which I really designed for your service, and had made it my
study, if by endeavours or interest I could accomplish the same, which I have
cause to believe might have operated to that end, had not the inclination and
desires of my honourable Lady Pembroke interposed, to have that vacancy
supplied by one of her Ladyship's grandsons or kinsmen, which, when the time
" S.P. Dom. Car. ii, 235-54.
The Walpole Letter. 301
comes, is like to work that way. The Corporation being generally disposed to
gratify my Lady's recommendations, especially her relations, appearing for her
great nobleness and bounty to the place. My station may tell you I am under
an obligation of high rate to render service with obedience to my Lady's com-
mands, especially in this particular, otherwise, my apprehension of your worth
and merit was bespoke aforehand to have served you, though a perfect stranger,
which is my unhappiness. However, I beg your charitable and good opinion
of me, and to believe I shall ever own your commands by a due and right com-
pliance when you think fit to express the same to. Sir,
Your most humble servant,
(Signed) Thomas Gabetis.
PS. — Sir, I received a letter from my honourable friend my Lord Ranisford *'
for your services, which had a great influence upon me with your own, which
might easily have prevailed to perform that which now I find impossible, which
troubles Your servant,
(Signed) T. Gabetis.
Here is the explanation of the action of the Deputy Sheriff. His
personal inclination was to support Sir Joseph Wilhamson, and he
was recommended by his friend " Lord Ranisford "to do so, but was
bound in the first place to his patron Lady Anne, to whom in fact he
owed all his position, and he knew that she had been so bountiful and
so generous to Appleby that the Corporation would certainly accept
her wishes, and would not dream of opposing them. Therefore,
although inclined to have helped Sir Joseph to the best of his ability,
and probably having done so to a certain extent, he could not throw
his influence against Lady Anne, nor let it be seen that he was working
in any way for the person whom she opposed. The result was of
course a foregone conclusion. The Corporation was ready to do as
she wished, and as Thomas Tufton was not prepared to forfeit her
regard and the Lowthers had withdrawn in his favour, Tufton was
elected burgess, and Lady Anne 
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